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A History of Mathematics
by Carl B. Boyer
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr (1985-04)
ISBN: 0691023913
EAN: 9780691023915
Dewy Decimal #: 510.09
Paperback
SKU: 051708017
Condition: Used: Acceptable
Comments: juneheavy wear but still very usable. (not pretty)
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Presupposes a knowledge of college level mathematics but is accessible to the average reader through its consistent treatment of mathematical structure with a strict adherence to historical perspective and detail. The material is arranged chronologically beginning with archaic origins and covers Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Greek, Chinese, Indian, Arabic and European contributions done to the nineteenth century and present day. There are revised references and bibliographies and revised and expanded chapters on the nineteeth and twentieth centuries.
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Amazon.com Review
What do you mean there's no chapter 0? Whether or not you think that's a deficit, A History of Mathematics more than makes up for it with its depth and engaging analysis of the development of the "flawless science." Historian Carl B. Boyer designed it as a practical textbook for communicating math's complex timelines to interested college students in 1968; Uta C. Merzbach has gently revised it to bring it in line with current thought. Much of the early chapters are untouched, with new 19th- and 20th-century chapters covering Boyer's omissions and new and revised references guiding the reader to additional resources. From the origins of numbering to the future of computing, the authors strive for comprehensive examination and clear, simple explanations. Some of the math will daunt those who have never taken college-level courses (or have forgotten what they learned), but some of the more elaborate technical material can be skipped if needed. Especially helpful is the extensive timeline-appendix that proceeds from the beginning of time to the late 20th century. Whether you're using it to gain a better understanding of mathematics or to broaden your awareness of the historical record, A History of Mathematics will help you make sense of the wide world of numbers. --Rob Lightner
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Customer Reviews
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A history of PURE Mathematics
Rating  (4)
Date: 2008-10-19
An interesting exposition of the history of mathematics up to the mid-20th century, but the author's attitude is somewhat irritating. I would describe him somewhat of a "purist fundamentalist". His denigration of the contributions of applied mathematicians shows throughout the book. His best praise for someone is "so and so did not only contribute to applied mathematics", as if pure mathematics is the superior art.
Nevertheless, the book is an interesting read and the exercises are full of interesting mathematical puzzles. A word of caution is that the reader needs some college-level mathematics to understand much of the book, despite its being written in simpler language. Some of the latter chapters also get confusing since he talks about 5 mathematicians at any one time, jumping from the contributions of one to another in mid-sentence, then going back to someone else described earlier. It would have been more helpful if his sections were better-defined and had titles. Could also use an update to the 21st century.
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Usefulness
Rating (4)
Date: 2008-02-08
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Excellent organization and coverage. Type size limits effectiveness for practical reference on a routine basis. Subject matter being oriented toward those accustomed to frequent reference should serve as guide.
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A great introduction to the history of math
Rating  (5)
Date: 2006-09-12
5 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
When I was a high school student, I loved math, but hated math classes, with their tedious emphasis on going over things until even the most mathematically ungifted either got the stuff (or gave up!) the repetitive teaching necessary to inculcate it into the densest heads, and the problem solving that went on long after I had "got it."
Would that I'd then had this book. Boyer has written a great introductory work to both the history of math and math itself, which you can read at your own pace, study until you get it and then move on, with lots of references if you for some reason want to understand something even better. By grouping the chapters around eras of mathematicians, and various mathematicians, he makes the history of math approachable even to those without degrees in mathematics.
This is not necessarily THE book you'd want to read if you're working on a masters or PhD in math, but the sort of book you'd really love to read as a bright high school student or undergraduate student. All in all a great book, but, as other reviewers have written, not exactly the Encyclopaedia Britanica, but then, how many people read the Britanica for pleasure?
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Everyone should read this book
Rating (5)
Date: 2005-03-28
13 out of 13 customers found this reveiw helpful
Hey I read this book loved it, and everyone should read it! Hey I am no brain, I do not belong to Mensa, nor am I endowed with any superior intelect, I am an average guy, Just a B student, who fell in love with this book. Anybody if they really want can understand this book and really appreciate what math is. Mathmatics before this book was just a bunch of numbers on a page any countless formulas to memorize, however this book changed me, I see math a whole different way now. Studying the history of mathmatics is like studying the history of the world. It is a shame this information is never taught in elementry school, it would make kids a lot more interested in math and actually be able to see what the numbers mean. After reading this book a door has been opened. I now am more curious about mathmatics and well everything! I understand where those numbers came from, Pie no longer is something I eat or some funy thing in a formula to find the area of a circle, it actually means something to now.
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Not for the serious student of history of mathematics
Rating  (3)
Date: 2003-10-08
65 out of 76 customers found this reveiw helpful
Boyer can write pretty well. His tendency to wax on about the virtues of the people he writes about can get annoying, but overall this probably works to make a more engaging style. This kind of writing style is entirely appropriate for a textbook designed to draw readers into the world of mathematics, but is prone to wide, sweeping generalizations and ill-supported assumptions and occasionally, factually incorrect statements.The reader who is serious about studying the development of mathematics will learn something from this book, but there are better places to learn it. Boyer, as indicated above, seems intent on "cleaning up" history to fit the nice picture he has of it. Unfortunately, merely reciting well-known mathematical legends does more harm than good; it obscures the real process of discovery, and the way mathematics has, and still does, develop. There are errors in the book that indicate Boyer did not do his research. To keep this review short, I'll name one: Boyer credits Poincare with the Poincare disc model of hyperbolic geometry. Anyone that has actually looked at Riemann's very important 1854 lecture (one of the most important documents of 19th century mathematics) will realize this model is due to Riemann! Since Boyer spends quite a bit of time on Riemann, this is rather puzzling. Boyer also relies on E.T. Bell for some biographical information. No serious historian of mathematics would (or should) reference Bell for biographies of mathematicians. Bell's caricatures are entertaining, but do a disservice to the subject. This book is only recommended for those who want to get a vague idea of the history of mathematics, but do not particularly care about the details being correct. For that purpose, Boyer does a better job than most.
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