Customer Reviews

Sun, Moon and Standing Stones (Oxford Paperbacks)

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This is a useful, well-documented book for those interested in studying the different ways mathematics may have developed in our history. It is interesting to compare the book, which traces how our ancestors may have developed algorithms (mostly empirical) to calculate astronomical events, with others covering historical approaches in different areas in the World. For example, the one "The Exact Sciences in Antiquity" was written to trace the development of different mathematical methods (more conceptual and theoretical) to solve the same problem in Southwest Asia (Assryria, Babylonia) and the Middle East. There is one by Professor Van der Waerden which treats the history of mathematics in Greece and Egypt particularly well. And, there are others dealing with the development of mathematics and numbers in Egypt. I consider this book as a valuable historical resource to use for this type of study.

A fairly laid-back analysis of the current information without the hype and bombast usually ascribed to these works. Wood isn't writing to debunk or pander, just to state the facts. It's a blessed relief.