The Rainbow of Mathematics A History of the Mathematical Sciences

by Grattan-Guinness, Ivor

• ISBN13: 9780393320305
• ISBN10: 0393320308
• Edition: 00
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-05-17
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Summary

He charts the growth of mathematics through its refinement by ancient Greeks and then medieval Arabs, to its systematic development by Europeans from the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century. This book describes the evolution of arithmetic and geometry, trigonometry and algebra; the interplay between mathematics, physics, and mathematical astronomy; and "new" branches such as probability and statistics. Authoritative and comprehensive, The Rainbow of Mathematics is a unique account of the development of the science that is at the heart of so many other sciences. Originally published under the title The Norton History of the Mathematical Sciences .

Table of Contents

Pre-viewing the rainbow	1	(18)
Invisible origins and ancient traditions	18	(86)
A quiet millennium: from the early Middle Ages into the European Renaissance	104	(70)
The age of trigonometry: Europe, 1540-1660	174	(60)
The calculus and its consequences, 1660-1750	234	(68)
Analysis and mechanics at centre stage, 1750-1800	302	(45)
Institutions and the profession after the French Revolution	347	(17)
Mathematical analysis and geometries, 1800-1860	364	(45)
The expanding world of algebras, 1800-1860	409	(27)
Mechanics and mathematical physics, 1800-1860	436	(43)
International mathematics, but the rise of Germany	479	(14)
The rise of set theory: mathematical analysis, 1860-1900	493	(38)
Algebras and geometries: their relations and axioms, 1860-1900	531	(45)
An era of stability: mechanics, 1860-1900	576	(44)
An era of media: mathematical physics, 1860-1900	620	(34)
The new century, to the Great War and beyond	654	(65)
Re-viewing the rainbow	719	(44)
Bibliography	763	(26)
Publisher's Acknowledgements	789	(2)
Index	791