Overview

An anthology that gathers together nearly one hundred selections from the past 500 years of popular math writing. Ranging from the late fifteenth to the late twentieth century, and drawing from books, newspapers, magazines, and websites, it includes recreational, classroom, and work mathematics; mathematical histories and biographies; and, more.

Full Product Details

Author:   Benjamin Wardhaugh
Publisher:   Princeton University Press
Imprint:   Princeton University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 3.00cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.680kg
ISBN:  

9780691147758

ISBN 10:   0691147752
Pages:   392
Publication Date:   29 April 2012
Audience:   General/trade ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Temporarily unavailable  
The supplier advises that this item is temporarily unavailable. It will be ordered for you and placed on backorder. Once it does come back in stock, we will ship it out to you.
Language:   English

Table of Contents

"*FrontMatter, pg. i*Contents, pg. v*Preface, pg. xiii*1. ""Sports and Pastimes, Done by Number"": Mathematical Tricks, Mathematical Games, pg. 1*2. ""Much Necessary for All States of Men"": From Arithmetic to Algebra, pg. 32*3. ""A Goodly Struggle"": Problems, Puzzles, and Challenges, pg. 62*4. ""Drawyng, Measuring and Proporcion"": Geometry and Trigonometry, pg. 84*5. Maps, Monsters, and Riddles: The Worlds of Mathematical Popularization, pg. 108*6. ""To Ease and Expedite the Work"": Mathematical Instruments and How to Use Them, pg. 152*7. ""How Fine a Mind"": Mathematicians Past, pg. 176*8. ""By Plain and Practical Rules"": Mathematics at Work, pg. 216*9. ""The Speedier Expedition of Their Learning"": Thoughts on Teaching and Learning Mathematics, pg. 245*10. ""So Fundamentally Useful a Science"": Reflections on Mathematics and Its Place in the World, pg. 290*11. The Mathematicians Who Never Were: Fiction and Humor, pg. 326*Index, pg. 367"

Reviews

[F]or the enthusiast for the history of popular maths writing this is a must-have book. -- Brian Clegg Popular Science In A Wealth of Numbers, we have the end product of what must have been a lot of challenging research... This book works well for random browsing as well as for sustained reading; purely recreational essays and puzzle problems are well-mixed with more serious topics such as an article explaining Cantor's diagonalization proof and 'Cubic equations for the practical man.' There's something in here for everyone, and it's a great contribution to the mathematics literature to have it all in one place. -- Mark Bollman MAA Reviews Wardhaugh provides an exciting addition to mathematics anthologies... The physical format is very reader-friendly, with especially good line spacing and margins. The book is valuable for all libraries supporting undergraduate and graduate study, as well as many public libraries. Faculty should consider this as a source of comprehensible readings for aspiring mathematics majors. Individuals interested in math history will want a copy for their personal libraries. Choice

One of the pleasures of this book is reading the texts in the language of the day... The collection as a whole provides the general reader with a history of mathematics, biographical and otherwise, through popular writing. Because the writing was aimed at general readers of its time, it is usually accessible to the average mathematical reader of our time. The book would be an excellent reference for teachers of mathematics and for those researching the history of the dissemination of mathematical ideas. --Carol Dorf, American Scientist [F]or the enthusiast for the history of popular maths writing this is a must-have book. --Brian Clegg, Popular Science In A Wealth of Numbers, we have the end product of what must have been a lot of challenging research... This book works well for random browsing as well as for sustained reading; purely recreational essays and puzzle problems are well-mixed with more serious topics such as an article explaining Cantor's diagonalization proof and 'Cubic equations for the practical man.' There's something in here for everyone, and it's a great contribution to the mathematics literature to have it all in one place. --Mark Bollman, MAA Reviews Wardhaugh provides an exciting addition to mathematics anthologies... The physical format is very reader-friendly, with especially good line spacing and margins. The book is valuable for all libraries supporting undergraduate and graduate study, as well as many public libraries. Faculty should consider this as a source of comprehensible readings for aspiring mathematics majors. Individuals interested in math history will want a copy for their personal libraries. --Choice The Wardhaugh book is a welcome addition to anthologies that have preceded it... Although written for the general reader who is interested in mathematics, the collection is apropos for those who are more mathematically oriented as well... [T]his well-thought-out, eclectic collection will provide hours of enjoyable reading. --Jim Tattersall, CSHPM

One of the pleasures of this book is reading the texts in the language of the day... The collection as a whole provides the general reader with a history of mathematics, biographical and otherwise, through popular writing. Because the writing was aimed at general readers of its time, it is usually accessible to the average mathematical reader of our time. The book would be an excellent reference for teachers of mathematics and for those researching the history of the dissemination of mathematical ideas. -- Carol Dorf American Scientist [F]or the enthusiast for the history of popular maths writing this is a must-have book. -- Brian Clegg Popular Science In A Wealth of Numbers, we have the end product of what must have been a lot of challenging research... This book works well for random browsing as well as for sustained reading; purely recreational essays and puzzle problems are well-mixed with more serious topics such as an article explaining Cantor's diagonalization proof and 'Cubic equations for the practical man.' There's something in here for everyone, and it's a great contribution to the mathematics literature to have it all in one place. -- Mark Bollman MAA Reviews Wardhaugh provides an exciting addition to mathematics anthologies... The physical format is very reader-friendly, with especially good line spacing and margins. The book is valuable for all libraries supporting undergraduate and graduate study, as well as many public libraries. Faculty should consider this as a source of comprehensible readings for aspiring mathematics majors. Individuals interested in math history will want a copy for their personal libraries. Choice The Wardhaugh book is a welcome addition to anthologies that have preceded it... Although written for the general reader who is interested in mathematics, the collection is apropos for those who are more mathematically oriented as well... [T]his well-thought-out, eclectic collection will provide hours of enjoyable reading. -- Jim Tattersall CSHPM

[F]or the enthusiast for the history of popular maths writing this is a must-have book. -- Brian Clegg Popular Science

Author Information

"Benjamin Wardhaugh is a postdoctoral research fellow at All Souls College, University of Oxford, where he studies and teaches the history of mathematics. He is the author of ""How to Read Historical Mathematics"" (Princeton)."

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