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Jane Muir
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Of Men and Numbers: The Story of the Great Mathematicians (Dover Books on Mathematics) Paperback – February 9, 1996

by Jane Muir (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 21 ratings
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While mathematics itself may be a formidable subject for many, the lives and accomplishments of history's greatest mathematicians — from Pythagoras to Cantor — offer fascinating reading.
In this delightful and informative recounting, for example, we learn how Pascal's life was abruptly changed by a family of fanatical bonesetters, how Descartes was influenced by three dreams, and how the scholarly Swiss Leonhard Euler (whose famous conjecture was finally disproved in 1959, after 177 years) almost ended up in the Russian navy.
Here, too, are Cardano, the gambler who becomes the 16th century's most fashionable doctor; Archimedes, Newton, and Gauss, often considered the three greatest mathematicians of all times; Lobatchevsky, the inventor of non-Euclidean geometry; and the tragic Galois, a founder of modern higher algebra.
In addition to a wealth of interesting and informative anecdotes, presented in a delightfully conversational style, the author offers lucid, accessible explanations of these thinkers' invaluable contributions to the edifice of modern mathematical thought and to man's understanding of himself and his universe.

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  1. Print length
    256 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Dover Publications
  4. Publication date
    February 9, 1996
  5. Dimensions
    5.44 x 0.54 x 8.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0486289737
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0486289731
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dover Publications (February 9, 1996)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0486289737
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0486289731
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.9 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.44 x 0.54 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 21 ratings

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Jane Muir

Jane Muir

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4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
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21 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

shadesofgray
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2012
Galois, one very bad cat! By far the most interesting mathematician in the whole book. However, many of the mathematicians in the book are very cool.
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Vol Reader
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Historical Reference
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2009
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This happened to be just what I was looking for: info on some of the more prominent mathematicians in history, in a short readable format. Not written as a necessarily easy, novel-like read, but definitely worth adding to my library.
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Wayne
2.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected.
Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2010
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I dontated this book. Hopefully someone will like it but I didn't. It is boring.
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flashgordon
4.0 out of 5 stars Obscure mathematics and philospher writes a history of Mathematics
Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2018
Jane Muir - I've never heard of her. She published this in 1961; this was thirty to twenty years after E.T. Bell's "The Development of Mathematics." Her 240 pages here looks more analogous to E.T. Bell's "Men of Mathematics", minus a few mathematicians here and there.

Janes book relates Mathematics to Philosophy - but more contemporary Philosophy from Descartes through Hume and Loche, than Greek. E.T. Bell also relates philosophy to mathematics, but I'd say his Magic of Numbers covers Greek philosophy to mathematics more than his "Men of Mathematics" or, "the Development of Mathematics." E.T. Bell does mention some interesting philosophy of Carnap in the last chapter of his "the Development of Mathematics." He points out the difference between vague ideas and constructive mathematical ideas.

The effort to relate philosophy to mathematics is because some philosophers have keyed on mathematics as the key to the problems of philosophy of knowledge. Study the history of mathematics, and perhaps get some insight on how knowledge works. This and rational philosophy seems to be why Jane Muir wanted to write this. Once again, in terms of Descartes and later philosophers, I think she made a contribution.

But, it's not just whether she made a contribution or not; it's the fact that she saw this connection and pursued it at all. I find in my life from 1975 to Dec 2018, having spent a life trying to explore the philosophy of mathematics, that few intellectuals much less non-intellectuals have tried to go down this path. Only like .0000000001 percent of humanity, namely me, have noted that mankind is the technologically dependent, and hence science and mathematics dependent species. That figuring out nature is what distinguishes humanity from the other life on Earth.

Jane Muir was a rational philosopher in a sea of irrationality, psuedo-science . . . apes dressed in suits. This was her calling card to the future humanity, if there is to be any. I think this book is a treasure for any rational philosopher to read.

- Jane misses a few things like Cardano's discovery that "Tartaglia wasn't the first to solve the general third degree equation, and hence, Cardano felt free of his secrecy oath to Tartaglia to publish it." And a few details like that here and there.

Jane suggests Descartes "the Geometry" is the more significant writing than his philosphy; but, I'm not sure she fully understands how amazing a mathematical work it is. For descartes, his algebraic points on a line are the roots of an algebraic equation, which are the intersections on a line. It took him till he went to the third dimension till he came to make the x,y grid as well.

Her best mathematical understanding seems to be between Newton's calculus and George Cantor's transfinite numbers.

- Jane Muir, as of the time I've discovered her, appears to either have passed away a long time ago; or, has changed last names. I mean there's no wiki or any way of finding out what happened to her. This book is her only record of her existence. Her message is an important one; unfortunately, with almost eight billion people on the Earth, it's almost impossible to enlighten everyone. Mankind will go into the Nano/A.I./and Quantum computer future a mess of thought.
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BRYAN LONG
5.0 out of 5 stars "Of Men & Numbers by Jane Muir - A review
Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2001
This is an ENJOYABLE book. I am not a mathematician, but came across this book by chance while looking for some specific explanations. The book was so interesting and well written that I stopped my research and read it through. I would characterize it roughly as a chronological explanation of the lives of the world's great mathematicians. It relates their lives and contributions to knowledge to those who lived before and after them. The author strikes a very nice balance between explanation of their environment and their contribution to knowledge (and its acceptance, rejection, or being ignored). Its all nicely woven together. The book gave me the feeling of getting just the right amount of detail and explanation with plenty of references for those who wish to study deeper on many subjects covered in the book. Try it. You'll like it. End of review
9 people found this helpful
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Prime reader
4.0 out of 5 stars Of Men and Numbers
Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2011
While narrating life stories of the greatest known mathematicians that lived -- from Pythagoras in 500 B.C. to Cantor in the twentieth -- Jane Muir unravels their inventions and discoveries that have enabled the evolution of mathematics. For example, stories in the lives of individual mathematicians such as how Pascal's life as a mathematician was truncated by the influence of fanatics and how Descartes erected the proof that he himself existed - "I think, therefore I am" are delightfully recounted. Without going into the technicalities, we are able to comprehend gigantic inventions such as Cartesian coordinates, the view of Geometry as an empirical science as approached by Lobatchavesky and its vindication in Einstein's theory, to name a few. Mathematics that started as a study of quantities has morphed and is no longer looked upon as an absolute truth. The world does not necessarily fit our mathematics. On the contrary, we fit our mathematics to the world, observing and testing to determine which mathematics to use under different circumstances in order to have the world as we see it conform to some type of mathematical order. As Einstein put it, "So far as the theorems of mathematics are about reality, they are not certain; so far as they are certain, they are not about reality".
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purveyor
1.0 out of 5 stars E. T. Bell clone - shares his regrettable style
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2007
It is a pity that Jane Muir seems to have modeled her book on "Men of Mathematics" by E. T. Bell. Like him, she "embellishes" her biographies to the point of sacrificing historical accuracy. Unfortunately (from my point of view) she also shares some of Bell's anti-Christian sentiments. For example, in the section on Blaise Pascal, she portrays Pascal as a mentally ill religious lunatic. Naturally, in the section on Evariste Galois, the great mathematician Cauchy is made out to be a fool and a bigoted religious fanatic while Galois (a very unstable, self-destructive character if there ever was one) is made out to be the martyred hero!
13 people found this helpful
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Dan VandeBunte
4.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Books I've Ever Read
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2009
I am a high school math teacher and picked this book out of one of my cupboards for some lame "read during school" promotion (It's not like they ever have "do math during school" promotions...). I found the book difficult to put down. The book is filled with intriguing information at several levels; the math, the biographies, the drama, etc. Terrific book.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Barclaycard
4.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read - some great stories
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 5, 2014
Verified Purchase
would like even more stories!! and more mathematicians. otherwise really good read!!! I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I like to use some of these nuggets to bring maths alive to students.
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