A History of Mathematics
by Carl B. Boyer, Uta C. Merzbach · first published 1968
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4recommended by
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2012–2026first – last mentioned
80% recommend20% neutral
Develops world contributions to mathematics, from the inception of numbers and geometry to modern probability and Bourbaki's mathematics.
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I took a course that used this book (Boyer and Merzbach, A History of Mathematics), which I enjoyed: http://www.amazon.com/A-History-Mathematics-Second-Edition/d...
on “How to Read Mathematics” ↗This is a beautiful post! I'm loving what I am reading and the suggestions seem quite insightful :] I am not sure if any of the following books were recommendation already: - Carl B. Boyer - A History of Mathematics - William Dunham - Journey Through Genius - Philip J. Davi & Reuben Hersh - The Mathematical Experience - Martin Aigner & Günter M. Ziegler - Proofs from the Book - Imre Lakatos - Proofs and Refutations -…
on “Ask HN: How or where to begin learning mathematics from first principles?” ↗Boyer/Merzbach "A History of Mathematics" [0] is a tome in that vein. It spends a lot of time discussing the (mind-boggling, to a modern-mathematics-educated reader) methods that ancient peoples used to do real math (e.g. for engineering)…
on “Galois Theory” ↗…learned to use a sextant and doing that gives one some sense of the "sorcery" and power achievable with blue-water navigation. Boyer and Merzbach cover some of the development of these tools in their "History of Mathematics". Highly recommended.
on “You Need a Kitchen Slide Rule” ↗…isosceles right triangle. The four major Shulba Sutras, which are mathematically the most significant, are those attributed to Baudhayana, Manava, Apastamba and Katyayana. Refer to: Boyer, Carl B. (1991). A History of Mathematics (Second ed.), John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-54397-7. Boyer (1991), p. 207, says: "We find rules for the construction of right angles by means of triples of cords the lengths of which form Pythagorean…
on “Garfield's proof of the Pythagorean Theorem” ↗