Quite Right: The Story of Mathematics, Measurement, and Money - Hardcover

Biggs, Norman

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198753357 ISBN 13: 9780198753353

Verlag: OUP Oxford, 2016

Über diesen Titel

Críticas

Recommended. (CHOICE)

The author writes with a clear and engaging style, enriched here and there with witty comments. (Peter Giblin, The Mathematical Gazette)

This is an excellent popular history of mathematics. (Charles Ashbacher, Mathematical Association of America Reviews)

It is the different view on the history of mathematical ideas as compared to other books which renders this book a gem. (Thomas Sonar, Zentralblatt MATH)

[A]n excellent history of mathematics ... A lot of territory is covered very well in a relatively short read. Thus, if you want an brief introduction to the history of mathematics, either for yourself, or to use as part of a first course on the subject for students, then you would be Quite Right to make this book your choice. (Mark McCartney, London Mathematical Society Newsletter)

The text is quite accessible ... The useful illustrations and schemes are in gray-scale and to the point. (Adhemar Bultheel, EMS Newsletter)

I would recommend this book to those who are interested in a unique perspective of the history of mathematics. (Marsha Nicol Guntharp, Mathematics Teacher)

Reseña del editor

Mathematics did not spring spontaneously into life, with rules set in stone for all time. Its story is closely linked with the problems of measurement and money that have often driven its progress. Quite Right explains how mathematical ideas have gradually emerged since prehistoric times, so that they pervade almost every aspect of life in the twenty-first century.

Many histories of mathematics focus on the activities of those for whom mathematics itself was the motivation. Professor Biggs adopts a wider viewpoint. Making use of new discoveries of artefacts and documents, he explains the part that mathematics has played in the human story, and what that tells us about the nature of mathematics. The story reveals the power and beauty of mathematical concepts, which often belie their utilitarian origins. The twin paradigms of logical justification and algorithmic calculation recur throughout the book. No other book tells the story of mathematics, measurement, and money in this way.

Includes secontions on:
― The origins of calculation in ancient and medieval times
― How mathematics provides answers that are right, and what that means
― The impact of trade and the use of money on the development of mathematical algorithms
― The use of mathematics for secure communications
― How money and information are linked in our electronic world

Quite Right is a fascinating story, suitable for anyone interested in the mathematical foundations of the world we live in.

Norman Biggs is Professor (Emeritus) of Mathematics at the London School of Economics. He is the author of 12 books, including a perennial best-selling book Discrete Mathematics (Oxford University Press). He has a special interest in measurement and was Chair of the International Society of Weights and Scales Collectors from 2009-14. He served as a Vice President of the British Society for the History of Mathematics in 2014 and is an active member of the British Numismatic Society.

'This is a history of mathematics book with a difference. Instead of the usual chronological sequence of events, presented with mathematical hindsight (interpreting mathematical achievements from a modern point of view), this book tries to see things more from the context of the time - presenting the topics thematically rather than strictly chronologically, and including results and problems only when they fit into the themes ... the level of exposition is first-rate, with a far greater fluency than most mathematical writers can attain ... I am very happy to recommend it wholeheartedly.' Professor Robin Wilson, University of Oxford

Über diese Auflage

• Verlag: OUP Oxford
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0198753357
• ISBN 13: 9780198753353
• Einband: Tapa dura
• Anzahl der Seiten: 192