Jacques Hadamard, A Universal Mathematician (History of Mathematics) [Paperback]

Vladimir Mazya and Tatyana Shaposhnikova (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 27, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0821819232 | ISBN-13: 978-0821819234

This book presents a fascinating story of the long life and great accomplishments of Jacques Hadamard (1865-1963), who was once called "the living legend of mathematics". As one of the last universal mathematicians, Hadamard's contributions to mathematics are landmarks in various fields. His life is linked with world history of the 20th century in a dramatic way. This work provides an inspiring view of the development of various branches of mathematics during the 19th and 20th centuries. Part I of the book portrays Hadamard's family, childhood and student years, scientific triumphs, and his personal life and trials during the first two world wars. The story is told of his involvement in the Dreyfus affair and his subsequent fight for justice and human rights. Also recounted are Hadamard's worldwide travels, his famous seminar, his passion for botany, his home orchestra, where he played the violin with Einstein, and his interest in the psychology of mathematical creativity. Hadamard's life is described in a readable and inviting way. The authors humorously weave throughout the text his jokes and the myths about him. They also movingly recount the tragic side of his life. Stories about his relatives and friends, and old letters and documents create an authentic and colorful picture. The book contains over 300 photographs and illustrations. Part II of the book includes a lucid overview of Hadamard's enormous work, spanning over six decades. The authors do an excellent job of connecting his results to current concerns. While the book is accessible to beginners, it also provides rich information of interest to experts. Vladimir Maz'ya and Tatyana Shaposhnikova were the 2003 laureates of the Insitut de France's Prix Alfred Verdaguer. One or more prizes are awarded each year, based on suggestions from the Académie française, the Académie de sciences, and the Académie de beaux-arts, for the most remarkable work in the arts, literature, and the sciences. In 2003, the award for excellence was granted in recognition of Maz'ya and Shaposhnikova's book, Jacques Hadamard, A Universal Mathematician, which is both an historical book about a great citizen and a scientific book about a great mathematician. Co-published with the London Mathematical Society beginning with Volume 4. Members of the LMS may order directly from the AMS at the AMS member price. The LMS is registered with the Charity Commissioners.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The book is filled with brief and fascinating biographies of many of these colleagues, with amusing anecdotes and incisive quotations, and with an illuminating description of the academic milieu in which Hadamard was trained. In the second part of the book, Maz'ya and Shaposhnikova discuss the major fields of Hadamard's mathematics. These chapters, written with clarity and authority, manage simultaneously to be accessible to the novice (with a good undergraduate training in mathematics or science) and to be enlightening to the professional. ---- SIAM Review

This is a fascinating book on the life and work of J. Hadamard (1865-1963). In fact, it is also a book on mathematics and mathematicians from the last quarter of the 19th century until today--extremely rich material collected, ordered and presented in an interesting, attractive and readable form. The authors have done an excellent job and the result deserves much attention from professional mathematicians and historians of science, as well as from students with an interest in mathematics. This book is warmly recommended to everybody who likes mathematics. ---- European Mathematical Society Newsletter

Maz'ya and Shaposhnikova have created an authoritative source for biographical information on Jacques Hadamard. The authors describe Hadamard's life with numerous interesting details contained in the references of those close to him and give many illustrations of the wide-ranging mathematical impact of this "living legend". Furthermore, the authors enhance the utility of their text as a research tool by organizing and listing hundreds of references to other pertinent materials about the life and works of Hadamard. ---- MAA Online

From the Inside Flap

The book presents a fascinating story of the long life and great accomplishments of Jacques Hadamard (1865-1963), one of the last universal mathematicians whose contributions to mathematics are landmarks in various fields. The work provides an inspiring view of the development of various branches of mathematics during the 19th and 20th centuries. While the book is accessible to beginners, it also provides rich information of interest to experts. Zentralblatt f\"ur Didaktik der Mathematik

Product Details

• Paperback: 574 pages
• Publisher: American Mathematical Society, London Mathematical Society (July 27, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821819232
• ISBN-13: 978-0821819234
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,630,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Portrait of a brilliant, deeply humane man, April 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Jacques Hadamard, A Universal Mathematician (History of Mathematics) (Paperback)

This is an inspirational and often moving biography of one of the great mathematicians of our century. Hadamard was not only a brilliant mathematician, but a stimulating mentor, a man of wide-ranging knowledge, insatiable curiosity, humility, and most of all, great humanity. When Japan invaded Manchuria, he proposed that the League of Nations send peace-keeping forces there, only to face ridicule from the French press. Hadamard, more than most of us, deeply felt the tragic wastefulness of war. He lost two beloved sons in World War I. Of his son, Etienne, he once said: "what I did in mathematics is nothing compared to what he could do if he were alive today." (Half of the brilliant graduates of the Ecole Normale were killed in that war). I finished this book with feelings of gratitude and regret--gratitude to Hadamard for sharing his remarkable gifts with such generosity, and deep regret that "fate" was so grievously unfair to him.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational and moving, March 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Jacques Hadamard, A Universal Mathematician (History of Mathematics) (Paperback)

This is an inspirational and often moving biography of one of the great mathematicians of our century. Hadamard was not only a brilliant mathematician, but a stimulating mentor, a man of wide-ranging knowledge, insatiable curiosity, humility, and most of all, great humanity. When Japan invaded Manchuria, he proposed that the League of Nations send peacekeeping forces there, only to face ridicule from the French press. Hadamard, more than most of us, deeply felt the tragic wastefulness of war. He lost two beloved sons in World War I. Of his son Etienne, he once said: "what I did in mathematics is nothing compared with what he could do if he were alive today."(As the book points out, half the brilliant graduates of the Ecole Normale were killed in that war). I finished this book with feelings of gratitude and regret--gratitude to Hadamard for sharing his remarkable gifts with such generosity, and deep regret that "fate" was so grievously unfair to him.