The History of Mathematics: A Brief Course

by Roger Cooke

Book Overview

This pragmatic, issues-oriented history traces the discovery, solution, and application of mathematical problems. From the arithmetic of the ancient Egyptians to the intricacies of postcalculus math, The History of Mathematics: A Brief Course focuses on how mathematics has developed over the centuries. Roger Cooke has selected the most intriguing and significant problems in the history of mathematics and asked of each one: Why was it important? How was it solved? How was its solution applied? Did its solution lead to further advances in the field? The carefully selected topics in this book include The nature and origins of mathematics Early Western mathematics as practiced by the Egyptians, the Mesopotamians, the Greeks, and the Romans Non-Western traditions, including Hindu, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Islamic mathematics The development of modern mathematics from the Middle Ages to the calculus and other seventeenth-century discoveries to today's number theory The relationship of modern mathematics to science Contemporary issues in mathematics, including the role of women and minorities. This readable, up-to-date study is ideal for undergraduate courses in mathematics and mathematics education. Everyone interested in the field will want to keep a copy of The History of Mathematics close at hand.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471180823
• ISBN13: 9780471180821
• Release Date: October 1997
• Publisher: Wiley-Interscience
• Length: 552 Pages
• Weight: 2.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.6" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Trust

I've spent a long career trying to establish a few solid relationships between mathematics and the sciences of mind. Thus, it is truly a great pleasure to read a book on such a vast and deep subject as the history of mathematics and be thoroughly able to trust the author's knowledge of it through chapter after chapter.

A very proper emphasis on the historical context and chapters on the role of the non-western world

Approximately every three years, I teach a course in the history of mathematics. It is one of my favorite math courses to teach, because it allows me to delve into the historical and cultural context of the development of mathematics. Among other things, I was a history minor in college, and if you learn anything in that field, it is that events are never isolated. Everything takes place in a social, economic, cultural and historical context, and that includes the development of new mathematics. Cooke is obviously as much a student of history as he is of mathematics. The technical structure of the mathematics is explained within the historical and cultural settings. There are many exercises at the end of the chapters with solutions to some of them included at the end. The coverage of the development of mathematics in the western world is fairly standard. Cooke is to be commended in that he includes sections on what was going on in the rest of the world. Section II contains the following chapters: *) Mathematics of the Hindus *) Chinese mathematics *) Korea and Japan *) Islamic mathematics Many mathematics books mention the role of the Islamic nations in keeping the ancient mathematics alive. However, there is little acknowledgement of what was going on in other cultures. If there is a mention of mathematics outside the western sphere, it is in reference to the creation of our modern numeration system. It may be some time before I teach the history of mathematics again. If I do, I will once again place a great deal of emphasis on the history, something that Cooke does so very well.

An excellent book!

This book is a fascinating look at the history of mathematics, and is sure to inspire even the most devout haters of numbers.