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Mathematics: From the Birth of Numbers (Hardcover)

by Jan Gullberg (Author) "Scholars generally agree that our ability to count, and our vocabulary of counting, arose to meet practical needs and developed over many thousand years..." (more)
Key Phrases: positional numeration system, identical truth values, twin cube, Leonhard Euler, Gottfried Wilhelm, Old English (more...)
4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (62 customer reviews)

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Customers buy this book with Journey through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics by William Dunham

Mathematics: From the Birth of Numbers Journey through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics
Price For Both: $42.38

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
What does mathematics mean? Is it numbers or arithmetic, proofs or equations? Jan Gullberg starts his massive historical overview with some insight into why human beings find it necessary to "reckon," or count, and what math means to us. From there to the last chapter, on differential equations, is a very long, but surprisingly engrossing journey. Mathematics covers how symbolic logic fits into cultures around the world, and gives fascinating biographical tidbits on mathematicians from Archimedes to Wiles. It's a big book, copiously illustrated with goofy little line drawings and cartoon reprints. But the real appeal (at least for math buffs) lies in the scads of problems--with solutions--illustrating the concepts. It really invites readers to sit down with a cup of tea, pencil and paper, and (ahem) a calculator and start solving. Remember the first time you "got it" in math class? With Mathematics you can recapture that bliss, and maybe learn something new, too. Everyone from schoolkids to professors (and maybe even die-hard mathphobes) can find something useful, informative, or entertaining here. --Therese Littleton

Scientific American, Donald J. Albers
The book is an enthusiastic and utterly amazing popularization that promises to be in print for decades.... It is an important reference and a book that is plain fun to dip into. If a family is to have only one mathematics book on the reference shelf, then this is the one.

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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 1093 pages
  • Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (March 1997)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 039304002X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0393040029
  • Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.2 x 2.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 4.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: