Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

James R. Newman

Follow

The World of Mathematics: A Four-Volume Set (Dover Books on Mathematics) Paperback – November 6, 2003

by James R. Newman (Editor)

4.6 14 ratings

See all formats and editions

Save 10% when you order the complete set! A monumental 4-volume reference, 15 years in the making, The World of Mathematics was specially designed to make mathematics more accessible to the inexperienced. It comprises non-technical essays on every aspect of the vast subject, including articles by scores of eminent mathematicians and other thinkers.

Print length

2576 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Dover Publications
Publication date

November 6, 2003
Dimensions

5.5 x 5 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

0486432688
ISBN-13

978-0486432687
See all details

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dover Publications (November 6, 2003)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 2576 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0486432688
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0486432687
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.85 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 5 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #5,045,000 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #816 in Mathematics Reference (Books)
- #2,767 in Mathematics History

Customer Reviews:
4.6 14 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

Important information

To report an issue with this product or seller, click here.

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

James R. Newman

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

14 global ratings

2 star

0%

1 star

0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Wiliam

Satisfaction

Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2013

Verified Purchase

I got started to reading the 4 sets. I am really enjoying it. I am very glad with the acquisition done.

Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2016

Verified Purchase

Just what I wanted.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Michael Wischmeyer

Great Authors, Great Articles, Great Fun

Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2005

I pencil in the date that I finish reading an article in James R. Newman's four volume, The World of Mathematics. After a good many years, I now find that I am more than halfway through Newman's remarkable collection that spans 2500 pages. The Newman collection was published in 1956 as a hard cover boxed set that occasionally shows up in used bookstores. More recently, the four volumes have become available in soft cover reprints (Dover Publications) that can be purchased individually.

Newman described his work as "a small library of the literature of mathematics form A'hmose the Scribe to Albert Einstein, presented with commentaries and notes". The individual articles are not abridgements, but are reprinted in their entirety. Some are short, others quite long, a few are easy reading, some are difficult, but none are overwhelming. Each article is introduced by a thoughtful, helpful commentary.

I do not systematically read section by section. I skip around. Often, after Newman introduces me to some mathematical topic, I find myself sidetracked, exploring other books and authors. But eventually I return, select another article, and begin the cycle again.

What makes Newman collection so remarkable? Great original papers, great authors, and wide ranging topics.

Imagine reading Descartes on Cartesian coordinates, Whitehead on mathematical logic, Weyl on symmetry, Dedekind on irrational numbers, Russell on number theory, Heisenberg on the uncertainty principle, Turing on computer intelligence, Boole on set theory, and Eddington on group theory. Biographical and historical articles are scattered throughout. I especially liked Bell's article Invariant Twins: Cayley and Sylvester, and The Great Mathematicians by Turnball.

In some articles noted mathematicians try to define what is mathematical thought and how a mathematician creates mathematics. Clifford writes about The Exactness of Mathematical Laws, Von Neumann on The Mathematician, Weyl on Mathematical Way of Thinking, Poincare on Mathematical Creation, Newman on Godel's Proof, and Russell and Whitehead separately offer their thoughts on mathematical creativity. And, of course, there is G. H. Hardy's remarkable essay, A Mathematician's Apology.

Newman's compilation also includes a fascinating, eclectic mix of articles like How to Hunt a Submarine, Durer as a Mathematician, A Mathematical Approach to Ethics, Geometry in the South Pacific, and The Vice of Gambling and the Virtue of Insurance.

I have had great fun wandering through Newman's four volume set. I may someday finally read the last article. If so, I expect that I will simply begin again. It would be hard to say good-bye.

130 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Great collection!

Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2013

Verified Purchase

I first came across this set long ago in grad school. It kind o' disappeared but I found it recently. Great read if you are into this sort of reading. The reason for the three stars is that for the price I paid, the condition of the book was disappointing.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Peter B. Galvin

Great content but mediocre binding

Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2007

Verified Purchase

Love the contents of these books. Truly a classic that stands up well today. Unfortunately Dover chose to reissue these books as trade-press sized books with standard paperback bindings (along with the usual downsides of glue binding). Would have been great to give them a little better treatment (at least a lay-flat binding) for longevity and ease of reading.

33 people found this helpful

Helpful

Theoldlittleguy

Bought it in the mid-50s

Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2013

When I was a kid in high school, I was fascinated by basic algebra and geometry. I loved to solve logic puzzles. When I saw this advertised in my Dover catalog, I just knew I had to have it. Couldn't afford the hardcover ed., but could the paperback. My rural small-town HS library had like zero books on math. This book was a revelation -- Moebius strips, Einstein's simple equations on time dilation and length-shortening as one approaches the speed of light [a car traveling at 60 MPH shortens by less than a billionth of an inch], how mathematicians "do" math, articles by the people who create mathematics, and so on. I used the four vols as the basis for an essay on French mathematicians. Later on, when I was moving to the West Coast, I donated my copy to the local public library, one of a very few math books on the shelves. It was consequently removed, probably because of the soft cover and pages falling out. Now, at age 70, I will come back to my old friend, and buy the 4 volumes, hopefully in hardcover.

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

R. Coffin

Excellent collection of original sources

Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2006

I owned a hardcover version of this set for several years. I loved it. I wish I had thought of penciling in the date I completed an article like the reviewer from Texas. This set is engrossing. You need some discipline to keep from bouncing around for hours. Most of the articles are accessible to people with highschool trigonometry and calculus. It is great that Dover is around to pick up these works that would otherwise fade into history.

54 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jevons & Hollerith Books

Complete listing of contents now available

Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2007

We have posted the contents for all four volumes of this classic on "Amapedia", Amazon's wiki for additional product information. (The link is near the bottom of this Amazon product page, hidden in plain sight.) NOTE no longer true; see review discussion for instructions on how to get a copy

29 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Cliente de Amazon

El mundo de las matemáticas de Newmn

Reviewed in Mexico on June 2, 2017

Verified Purchase

Es una recopilación de los mejores textos matemáticos de todos los tiempos, definitivametne es una referencia obligada para cualquier persona que estudie física, matematicas y computación, siendo támbien muy buenos libros de divulgacion para cualquier persona aficionada a la ciencia.

Translate review to English