Taming the Infinite: The Story of Mathematics

ISBN-13: 9781847247681 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 272 str.

Ian Stewart

Opis

From ancient Babylon to the last great unsolved problems, an acclaimedmathematician and popularscience writerbrings us his witty, engaging, anddefinitive history of mathematicsIn his famous straightforward style, Ian Stewart explains each major developmentfrom the first number systems to chaos theoryand considers how each affected society and changed everyday life forever. Maintaining a personal touch, he introduces all of the outstanding mathematicians of history, from the key Babylonians, Greeks, and Egyptians, via Newton and Descartes, to Fermat, Babbage, and Godel, and demystifies math's key concepts without recourse to complicated formulae. Written to provide a captivating historic narrative for the non-mathematician, thisbookis packed with fascinating nuggets and quirky asides, and containsplenty ofillustrations and diagrams to illuminate and aid understanding of a subject many dread, but which has madethe world what it is today."