Mathematics for the Nonmathematician (Dover books explaining science) [Paperback]

Morris Kline (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Erudite and entertaining overview follows development of mathematics from ancient Greeks, through Middle Ages and Renaissance to the present. Chapters focus on Logic and Mathematics, the Number, the Fundamental Concept, Differential Calculus, the Theory of Probability and much more. Exercises and problems.

Product Details

• Paperback: 641 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; Illustrated. edition (February 1, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486248232
• ISBN-13: 978-0486248233
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #149,117 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A big book about math, August 29, 2003

By	Steve Stowers (Springfield, Illinois USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mathematics for the Nonmathematician (Dover books explaining science) (Paperback)

This book was originally written as a textbook (for a math-for-the-non-mathematician type course). It can be used as one (though as a textbook it's a bit dated), read cover-to-cover for edification and pleasure (the style is a bit more instructional than the average popular math book), or dipped into here and there for the topics the reader personally finds interesting. With well over 500 pages of fairly small print, there's a lot here, covering a wide variety of topics, with (it seems to me) particular emphasis on history, geometry (of various kinds), and applications of math to physics. If you leaf through the book, you'll find some pages of nothing but text, some pages full of geometrical diagrams, some of equations and formulas, and even a few Renaissance paintings (in the discussion on mathematical perspective). With so much here, readers will probably find some parts more interesting than others--though which parts are the interesting ones may be a matter of personal opinion.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting stuff....., October 2, 2005

By	MADC "mdiaz" (America Latina) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mathematics for the Nonmathematician (Dover books explaining science) (Paperback)

I am not a mathematician. I just happen to use math everyday in my trade. Just the usual stuff you use in finance. But I am interested in math, maybe just for fun (??!!). And I found this book to be very well written, very interesting and also it has a lot of history so you get to learn a lot and maybe in doing so, you also get to understand more clearly things that just pass you by when you were at school but you didn't really grasp them. This is math pageturner..I'm not kidding !!!

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reference for a beginning student in math, August 27, 2001

By	"silpionopen" (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mathematics for the Nonmathematician (Dover books explaining science) (Paperback)

A must have for the mathmatically curious. The subject seaquence is laid out in a logical order. Beginning with the premises of inductive vs. deductive reasoning, basic algebra, geometry, and the Calculus. This is not a good book for becoming proficient in sepcific areas of mathematics, but offered for me at least, a logical reference point for approaching the core sujects. I highly recommend this book for self-study.