Victor Katz A History Of Mathematics Third Edition Pdf

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· 45 ratings · 7 reviews

Start your review of A History of Mathematics: An Introduction

Jul 09, 2008 Lea rated it it was amazing

This book was written by my former boss, so I kinda had to love it, but I secretly really did.

An exhilarating survey of mathematics, from the heyday of Egypt & Babylon up to modern time. Full of cultural curiosities like e.g. how to calculate fractions the Egyptian way? What about Babylonian sexagesimal, and why is it still relevant? (And so on)

There is also little discussion -- quite an aside -- on ethnomathematics, i.e. mathematics outside the Western tradition. Some exploration on math from the Americas and Africa shows that this subject is indeed quite universal.

The book's greatest s

The book's greatest strength, however, is its thematic organization. It is chronologically divided into (pretty much) self-sufficient chapters. Assuming high school/early college mastery of math, readers can jump to a period of interest and get the gist.

Explanations are generally lucid, even more so when it comes to geometry.

True to its title, this book is "A History of Math: An Introduction". And what good introduction! Again we are reminded that science is truly cumulative process, each new generation building on the previous' legacy.

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Excellent! Filled with useful information.

It was good. But less information about the working of Chinese civilization. Similarly I also wanted to know more about the working of Babylonians.

Great for math students and those looking to find out where math "came from" and how it evolved into what we use today. Great for math students and those looking to find out where math "came from" and how it evolved into what we use today. ...more