Euclid--The Creation of Mathematics

ISBN-13: 9780387984230 / Angielski / Twarda / 1999 / 349 str.

Benno Artmann; B. Artmann

Opis

This book is for all lovers ofmathematics. It is an attempt to under stand the nature of mathematics from the point of view of its most important early source. Even if the material covered by Euclid may be considered ele mentary for the most part, the way in which he presents it has set the standard for more than two thousand years. Knowing Euclid's Elements may be ofthe same importance for a mathematician today as knowing Greek architecture is for an architect. Clearly, no con temporary architect will construct a Doric temple, let alone organize a construction site in the way the ancients did. But for the training ofan architect's aesthetic judgment, a knowledge ofthe Greek her itage is indispensable. I agree with Peter Hilton when he says that genuine mathematics constitutesone ofthe finest expressions ofthe human spirit, and I may add that here as in so many other instances, we have learned that language ofexpression from the Greeks. While presenting geometry and arithmetic Euclid teaches us es sential features of mathematics in a much more general sense. He displays the axiomatic foundation of a mathematical theory and its conscious development towards the solution of a specific problem. We see how abstraction works and enforces the strictly deductive presentation ofa theory. We learn what creative definitions are and v VI ----=P: . .: re: .:::: fa=ce how a conceptual grasp leads to toe classification ofthe relevant ob jects."

Recenzje

B. Artmann

Euclid - The Creation of Mathematics

"The author invites the 'lover of mathematics' to have a peek, via a gentle introduction and presentation of Euclid's Elements, with detours to previous Greek geometers, whose work has been incorporated in the Elements. The contents of the Elements are presented book by book . . . with full statements of the definitions, axioms, propositions, and proofs involved. There are . . . notes to subsequent development of Euclidean themes . . . justifications of steps of proof and of the sequence in which results appear . . . An original and pleasing feature of the book consists in the references to Greek architecture, which emphasize the pervasiveness of the concern for proportion in Greek culture, as well as the references to archaeological finds of dodecahedra- and icosahedra-shaped objects."-AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

Spis treści

Preface *Notes to the reader *General historical remarks *The Origins of Mathematics I: The Testimony of Eudemus *Euclid: Book I *Origin of Mathematics 2: Parallels and Axioms *Origins of Mathematics 3: Pythagoras of Samos *Euclid: Book II *Origin of Mathematics 4: Squaring the Circle *Euclid: Book III *Origin of Mathematics 5: Problems and Theories *Euclid: Book IV *Origin of Mathematics 6: The Birth of Rigor *Origin of Mathematics 7: Polygons after Euclid *Euclid: Book V *Euclid: Book VI *Origin of Mathematics 8:Be Wise, Generalize *Euclid: Book VII *Origin of Mathematics 9: Nicomachus and Diophantus *Euclid:Book VIII *Origins of Mathematics 10: Tools and Theorems *Euclid: Book IX *Origin of Mathematics 11: Math is Beautiful *Euclid: Book X *Origins of Mathematics 12: Incommensurability and Irrationality *Euclid: Book XI *Origins of Mathematics 13: The Role of Defiinitions *Euclid: Book XII *Origins of Mathematics 14: The Taming of the Infinite *Euclid: Book XIII *Origin of Mathematics 15: Symmetry Through the Ages *Origin of Mathematics 16: The Origin of the Elements *Notes *Bibliography *Index