From one of the greatest minds in contemporary mathematics, Professor E.T. Bell, comes a witty, accessible, and fascinating look at the beautiful craft and enthralling history of mathematics.
Men of Mathematics provides a rich account of major mathematical milestones, from the geometry of the Greeks through Newton’s calculus, and on to the laws of probability, symbolic logic, and the fourth dimension. Bell breaks down this majestic history of ideas into a series of engrossing biographies of the great mathematicians who made progress possible—and who also led intriguing, complicated, and often surprisingly entertaining lives.
Never pedantic or dense, Bell writes with clarity and simplicity to distill great mathematical concepts into their most understandable forms for the curious everyday reader. Anyone with an interest in math may learn from these rich lessons, an advanced degree or extensive research is never necessary.
Author(s): Eric Temple Bell
Publisher: Touchstone
Year: 1986
Language: English
Pages: 608
1. INTRODUCTION
2. MODERN MINDS IN ANCIENT BODIES
ZENO(fifth century B.C.), EUDOXUS (408-355 B.C.), ARCHIMEDES (287?-212 B.C.)
3. GENTLEMAN, SOLDIER, AND MATHEMATICIAN
DESCARTES (1596-1650)
4. THE PRINCE OF AMATEURS
FERMAT (1601-1665)
5. “GREATNESS AND MISERY OF MAN”
PASCAL (1623-1662)
6. ON THE SEASHORE
NEWTON (1642-1727)
7. MASTER OF ALL TRADES
LEIBNIZ (1646-1716)
8. NATURE OR NURTURE?
THE BERNOULLIS (seventeenth-and eighteenth centuries)
9. ANALYSIS INCARNATE
EULER (1707-1783)
10. A LOFTY PYRAMID
LAGRANGE (1736-1813)
11. FROM PEASANT TO SNOB
LAPLACE(1749-1827)
12. FRIENDS OF AN EMPEROR
MONGE (1746-1818), FOURIER (1768-1830)
13. THE DAY OF GLORY
PONCELET(1788-1867)
14. THE PRINCE OF MATHEMATICIANS
GAUSS (1777-1855)
15. MATHEMATICS AND WINDMILLS
CAUCHY (1789-1857)
16. THE COPERNICUS OF GEOMETRY
LOBATCHEWSKY (1793-1856)
17. GENIUS AND POVERTY
ABEL (1802-1829)
18. THE GREAT ALGORIST
JACOBI (1804-1851)
19. AN IRISH TRAGEDY
HAMILTON (1805-1865)
20. GENIUS AND STUPIDITY
GALOIS (1811-1832)
21. INVARIANT TWINS
SYLVESTER (1814-1897); CAYLEY (1821-1895)
22. MASTER AND PUPIL
WEIERSTRASS (1815-1897); SONJA KOWALEWSKI (1850-1891)
23. COMPLETE INDEPENDENCE
BOOLE (1815-1864)
24. THE MAN, NOT THE METHOD
HERMITE (1822-1901)
25. THE DOUBTER
KRONECKER (1823-1891)
26. ANIMA CANDIDA
RIEMANN (1826-1866)
27. ARITHMETIC THE SECOND
KUMMER (1810-1893), DEDEKIND (1831-1916)
28. THE LAST UNIVERSALIST
POINCARÉ (1854-1912)
29. PARADISE LOST?
CANTOR(1845-1918)
INDEX
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
