The History of Mathematics: A Brief Course [Unabridged] [Hardcover]

Roger Cooke (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471180823 | ISBN-13: 978-0471180821 | Publication Date: September 23, 1997 | Edition: 1

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The second edition…is a jewel. It is notable for what it includes as well as what it does not. But most importantly, it is a jewel for its presentation." (MAA Reviews, January 15, 2007)

"…a remarkably well-compiled format…recommended as a textbook for an undergraduate course; in addition...can appeal to readers interested in the history of science and to a general audience." (E-STREAMS, November 2006)

"An amazing assemblage of worldwide contributions in mathematics and, in addition to use as a course book, a valuable resource…essential." (CHOICE, November 2005) --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From the Publisher

In this book, the author explains the history of mathematics by concentrating on the mathematics that was done and what it means in relation to other mathematics and other areas of human endeavor. At all stages the reader will understand why people were interested in the problems that mathematicians were solving, and what consequences their solutions had for the further development of mathematics and its applications.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 552 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Interscience; 1 edition (September 23, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471180823
• ISBN-13: 978-0471180821
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,691,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very proper emphasis on the historical context and chapters on the role of the non-western world, November 23, 2000

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The History of Mathematics: A Brief Course (Hardcover)

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.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars rates two stars solely for its excellent typography, December 13, 2007

By 

Bruce D. Wilner "Bruce David Wilner" (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The History of Mathematics: A Brief Course (Hardcover)

Oh, what a disastrous disappointment this was! The book was generously sprinkled with history and chock-full of mathematics but basically fell silent in the "history of mathematics" department. I emerged with a vague idea of the interrelationships among these theorems or these techniques, but nothing of a useful _conceptual_ nature was to be gleaned from these academically spiffy pages. Honestly, I got the impression that the author was trying to impress me with the scope of his mathematical knowledge (a difficult task given the shocking limits thereof: a handful of theorems, more or less correctly stated, cannot substitute for a meaningful sub-corpus of math-craft). Yea, he expended not the first breath in trying to show me how the approaches and, yes, psyches of various civilizations empowered them to construct bodies of knowledge atop thitherto weaker or less finely structured bodies of knowledge. Nowhere could I glean any thread whereby I could declare, "Aha! It's amazing how culture X managed to cobble together idea P by subtly restructuring culture Y's notion of Q!" Friends, look for "The Crest of the Peacock" by George Geverghese Joseph and really, _really_ enjoy. (For a bit more detail of one particularly interesting tangent [no pun intended], explore Petr Beckmann's "History of Pi" also.) In retrospect, I can't imagine what motivated me to shell out $100 for Cooke's pseudo-opus in the first place.

5.0 out of 5 stars Trust, December 12, 2008

By 

David K. Dirlam - See all my reviews

This review is from: The History of Mathematics: A Brief Course (Hardcover)

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.