A Discourse Concerning Algebra: English Algebra to 1685 (Mathematics) [Hardcover]

Jacqueline A. Stedall (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198524951 | ISBN-13: 978-0198524953 | Publication Date: March 27, 2003

A Discourse Concerning Algebra, provides a new and readable account of the rise of algebra in England from the Medieval period to the later years of the 17th Century.Stedall's book follows the reception and dissemination of important algebraic ideas and methods from continental Europe and the consequent revolution in the state of English mathematics in the 17th century.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"History has not been kind to John Wallis' early attempt at writing a history of algebra up to his time...Few have sought to appreciate the book in the context of Wallis' work and the state of mathematics during his lifetime. It is exactly this tht Stedall sets out to do in the book under review here and the results of her findings make for a riveting read."--Eisso Atzema, MAA Online

About the Author

Jacqueline A. Stedall is a Clifford Norton Student in the History of Science, The Queen's College, Oxford; Member of the Centre for the History of the Mathematical Sciences, Open University, Oxford.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (March 27, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198524951
• ISBN-13: 978-0198524953
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,986,293 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "You shall imagin a name for the nomber, that is to be soughte" (p. 41), June 17, 2010

By 

Viktor Blasjo - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Discourse Concerning Algebra: English Algebra to 1685 (Mathematics) (Hardcover)

This is a useful survey of 17th century British algebra. However, I wish to take this opportunity to object to the fact that block quotes have fallen out of fashion in modern historical scholarship. Consider for example the following passage, which displays lack of understanding:

"Hobbes saw more clearly than Wallis did the potential pitfalls of using induction [in its classical sense of generalisation, of course] to make claims about infinite processes, and railed against 'Egregious logicians and geometricians, that think an Induction without a Numeration of all the particulars sufficient to infer a Conclusion universall, and fit to be received for a Geometrical Demonstration'. [In reply,] Wallis merely restated his case that induction was a perfectly valid method 'if after enumeration of some particulars comes the general clause "and the like in other cases"'" (p. 169)

The notion that the obstinate Hobbes "saw more clearly" on any mathematical matter than Wallis is utterly ridiculous. Indeed, Stedall's nonsense is readily refuted by simply following the reference she gives for her quotation from Wallis. If we read the original, we find that the very sentence quoted by Stedall continues: "this may passe for a proofe, till there be a possibility of giving some instance to the contrary; which, here, you will never be able to doe." Thus Wallis is obviously aware of the childishly trivial point that induction is fallible in principle, and the nonsense that he "merely" states that induction is "perfectly valid" is nothing but a fantasy in Stedall's head. Instead, Wallis is "merely" making the sound point that no intelligent person should listen to the pedantic whining of an ignoramus who cannot point to a single error caused by the method whose fallibility he is alleging. Needless to say, this entire calamity could have been avoided by a simple insistence on honest and open use of block quotes rather than biased paraphraseology that can only be verified or refuted through painstaking research on the part of the reader.