|
|
|
Sort Order |
|
|
|
Items / Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Srl | Item |
| 1 |
ID:
019480
|
|
|
|
|
| Publication |
London, Robinson, 2015.
|
| Description |
321pPale green spine
|
| Summary/Abstract |
Mathematics is a product of human culture which has developed along with our attempts to comprehend the world around us. In A Brief History of Mathematical Thought, Luke Heaton explores how the language of mathematics has evolved over time, enabling new technologies and shaping the way people think. From stone-age rituals to algebra, calculus, and the concept of computation, Heaton shows the enormous influence of mathematics on science, philosophy and the broader human story. The book traces the fascinating history of mathematical practice, focusing on the impact of key conceptual innovations. Its structure of thirteen chapters split between four sections is dictated by a combination of historical and thematic considerations. In the first section, Heaton illuminates the fundamental concept of number. He begins with a speculative and rhetorical account of prehistoric rituals, before describing the practice of mathematics in Ancient Egypt, Babylon and Greece. He then examines the relationship between counting and the continuum of measurement, and explains how the rise of algebra has dramatically transformed our world. In the second section, he explores the origins of calculus and the conceptual shift that accompanied the birth of non-Euclidean geometries. In the third section, he examines the concept of the infinite and the fundamentals of formal logic. Finally, in section four, he considers the limits of formal proof, and the critical role of mathematics in our ongoing attempts to comprehend the world around us. The story of mathematics is fascinating in its own right, but Heaton does more than simply outline a history of mathematical ideas. More importantly, he shows clearly how the history and philosophy of maths provides an invaluable perspective on human nature
|
| Standard Number |
9781472117113 Pb.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Circulation
| Accession# | Call# | Current Location | Status | Policy | Location |
| I01622 | 510.1/HEA | Main | On Shelf | General | |
|
|
|
|
| 2 |
ID:
018483
|
|
|
|
|
| Publication |
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,
|
| Description |
52pBlack spine
|
| Summary/Abstract |
G. H. Hardy was one of this century's finest mathematical thinkers, renowned among his contemporaries as a 'real mathematician ... the purest of the pure'. He was also, as C. P. Snow recounts in his foreword, "unorthodox, eccentric, radical, ready to talk about anything". This 'apology', written in 1940 as his mathematical powers were declining, offers a brilliant and engaging account of mathematics as very much more than a science; when it was first published, Graham Greene hailed it alongside Henry James's notebooks as 'the best account of what it was like to be a creative artist'. C. P. Snow's Foreword gives sympathetic and witty insights into Hardy's life, with its rich store of anecdotes concerning his collaboration with the brilliant Indian mathematician Ramanujan, his aphorisms and idiosyncrasies, and his passion for cricket. This is a unique account of the fascination of mathematics and of one of its most compelling exponents in modern times.
|
| Standard Number |
9781466402690 Pb.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Circulation
| Accession# | Call# | Current Location | Status | Policy | Location |
| I01368 | 510/HAR | Main | On Shelf | General | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|