Mathematics in Civilization, Third Edition

by Resnikoff, Howard L.; Wells, Jr., Raymond O.

• ISBN13: 9780486789224
• ISBN10: 0486789225
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2015-03-18
• Publisher: Dover Publications

Summary

Space flight, computers, lasers, and information technology ― these are but a few examples of the spectacular growth, development, and far-reaching applications of mathematics. But what of the field's past? Upon which intellectual milestones were the foundations of modern mathematics constructed? How has our comprehension of the physical universe, language, and the nature of thought itself been influenced and informed by the developments of mathematics through the ages?
This lucid presentation examines how mathematics shaped and was shaped by the course of human events. In a format suited to college-level studies as well as popular reading, the book explores trigonometry, navigation, cartography, logarithms, algebra, and calculus through ancient, medieval, post-Renaissance, and modern times. Solutions to problems appear at the end of each chapter, and this edition has been newly expanded to include a supplement on events in mathematics since the 1985 publication of the first Dover edition. Acclaimed by Telegraphic Reviews as "an exceptionally good liberal arts math text," this highly readable treatment makes a technical subject vividly fascinating.

Author Biography

Howard L. Resnikoff taught in the Departments of Psychology, Applied Mathematics, and Computer Science at Harvard University. He was Chairman of the Department of Mathematics at the Unviersity of California, Irvine, and Professor of Mathematics at Rice Unviersity. He was also the founder of Aware, Inc., a mathematical engineering company.
Raymond O. Wells, Jr., is Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at Jacobs University Bremen and Adjunct Professor of Mathematics at the University of Colorado. He was for many years a member of the Mathematics Department at Rice University.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION
PART ONE: MATHEMATICS IN ANTIQUITY
  Chapter 1 Number Systems and the Invention of Positional Notation
  Chapter 2 Egyptian Arithmetic
  Chapter 3 Babylonian Algebra
  Chapter 4 Greek Trigonometry: The Introduction of Inequalities and the Measurement of Area
PART TWO: THE ADOLESCENCE OF COMPUTATION
  Chapter 5 Navigation
  Chapter 6 Cartography
  Chapter 7 The Invention of Logarithms
  Chapter 8 The Algebrization of Geometry
PART THREE: THE RISE OF GEOMETRICAL ANALYSIS
  Chapter 9 Infinitesimal Calculus
  Chapter 10 The Calculus and Calculation
  Chapter 11 Differential Geometry
  Chapter 12 Models of the Universe
SUPPLEMENT: TWENTIETH-CENTURY MATHEMATICS
SOLUTIONS TO SELECTED EXERCISES
REFERENCES
TABLES
  Table 1 Common (Briggsian) Logarithms
  Table 2 Natural Logarithms
  Table 3 Exponential Functions
  Table 4 Trigonometrical Functions
INDEX