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Unknown Quantity: A Real and Imaginary History of Algebra
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by John Derbyshire
Sales Rank: 25533
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List Price: $16.00
$5.49
At Amazon
on 10-13-2008
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Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Plume May 29, 2007
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0452288533
ASIN: B0016BV3JY
Product Dimensions:
7.9 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
From Publishers Weekly
This book's title is deceiving, for Derbyshire offers a very real and very entertaining survey of the development of algebra. "Real" and "imaginary" refer to types of numbers, and Derbyshire (Prime Obsession) opens with a basic primer on the various flavors of numbers and polynomials before looking at algebra's development over 3,000 years. As he explains how algebraic notation wended its way from Sumerian scratches on clay to such contemporary mathematical structures as Calabi-Yau manifolds (used by Andrew Wiles to solve Fermat's Last Theorem), Derbyshire introduces readers to the colorful figures who made contributions: Hypatia, whose death in Alexandria at the hands of an angry Christian mob marked the end of mathematics in the ancient world; 19th-century mathematician Hermann Grassmann, who published a 3,000-page translation of the ancient Hindu text the Rig Veda after his work on vector spaces was ignored; and Emanuel Lasker, more famous as the longest-reigning world chess champion than for his contributions to ring theory. This book will appeal to readers who relished the rigorous mathematical discursions interspersed with informal historical vignettes of David Berlinski's A Tour of the Calculus, but less mathematically inclined readers more interested in the history of science will also enjoy it. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Product Review
Both compelling and easy to follow. -- Library Journal
The story of algebra is the story of civilization itself. Unknown Quantity buzzes with rivalries, frustrations, and breakthroughs . . . a first-rate account. -- New Scientist
[A] very entertaining survey of the development of algebra. -- Publishers Weekly
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
|
Unknown Quantity: A Real and Imaginary History of Algebra
Available from Amazon
Price: $5.49
Updated on 10-13-2008
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