The Infinite in the Infinite

Erscheinungsjahr 1995
ISBN: 978-0-19-853950-6
Verlag: OUP Oxford

Buch, Englisch, 538 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 1018 g

This book is an extended history of mathematics that places mathematical development firmly in its historical context. Each section begins with a description of the geography and history of the country considered. From there, lively retelling of the creation myths and legends leads on to a description of how its people wrote and counted. This is followed by relevant mathematical material. The book covers;

* The geometry of stone circles in Europe

* The area of triangles and volume of pyramids that concerned the engineers of the Pharoahs

* The Babylonian sexagesimal number system and our present measures of space and time which grew out of it

* The use of the abacus and remainder theory in China

* Greek mathematics from Pythagoras to Pappus. Detailed accounts of the work of apollonius and Archimedes are given.

* The invention of trigonometry by Arab mathematicians

* The solution of quadratic equations by completing the square developed in India

Each chapter has a mathematical case study which is discussed both in the context of thetimes and in th light of more recent developments. Worked examples are also included.

"The author has woven together a broad historical backgrounding and some fairly detailed but accessible mathematics in amost exciting way." John Fauvel, author of Let Newton Be!

Autoren/Hrsg.

Wilson, Alistair Macintosh

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wissenschafts- und Universitätsgeschichte
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Geschichte der Human- und Sozialwissenschaften
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, Formalen Wissenschaften & Technik
• Mathematik | Informatik Mathematik Mathematik Allgemein Geschichte der Mathematik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- 1: Symphonies of stone

- 2: The pyramid builders

- 3: The Theban Mysteries

- 4: Babylon

- 5: The Middle Kingdom

- 6: The Achaeans

- 7: A World made of numbers

- 8: The thoughts of Zeus

- 9: The philosopher's criticism

- 10: The Elements of Euclid

- 11: An island interlude

- 12: Proportion

- 13: The Divine Archimedes

- 14: Apollonius the great geometer

- 15: The science of numbers

- 16: The School of Alexandria

- 17: The dark subcontinent of India

- 18: The contribution of Islam

- Index

Über Autor(innen)

Alistair Wilson has worked as an astrophysicist for NASA, lectured in physics at Curtin University, Western Australia, and is currently a freelance writer and teacher living in Perth.