Euler
The Master of Us All
by William Dunham · first published 1999
83% recommend17% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Blends history, narrative, and mathematics to show Euler's work and its context. It suits readers who want to see how the math developed, and it works well as a companion to Dunham's other books.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…that, given enough time and effort, a broader context emerges in your mind. Dig until you get tired or bored - because you could really keep digging forever. If you ever feel lost, read the masters - Euler and Dirichlet are two favorites. Here is a great book: https://www.amazon.com/Euler-Master-Dolciani-Mathematical-Ex... If you get tired of that, read about the greats. MacTutor has a great archive. I…
on “Initially dismissed, representation theory is now central to much of mathematics” ↗"Read Euler, read Euler, he is the master of us all." - Pierre-Simon Laplace Seriously though, 'Euler: The Master of Us All' by William Dunham was the book that got it going for me. Good mix of history, narrative…
on “Ask HN: How or where to begin learning mathematics from first principles?” ↗…number of branches used by physicists can more or less be counted on one hand. In order to go back to a time when mathematics and physics had not yet diverged, you probably have to return to the days of Euler, or even Newton. If you read William Dunham's excellent book, "The Calculus Gallery", in the very first chapter, you will find a discussion of Newton's very basic work on binomial series--something that…
on “Ask HN: How or where to begin learning mathematics from first principles?” ↗William Dunham has two books which are great: 1- Euler (The Master of us all) 2- Journey Through Genius. John Stillwell’s Mathematics and Its History. Needham’s Visual Complex Analysis.
on “Ask HN: Recommend a maths book for a teenager?” ↗…mentioned) Newton -> Never at rest, Richard Westfall (Already mentioned) Galileo -> Galileo, John Heilbron Oppenheimer -> Inside the centre (Ray Monk), more technical: "Robert Oppenheimer, a life" A. Pais Euler -> Euler: The Master of Us All, William Dunham (This is less a biography more like a compedium, still recommended) Archimedes -> Archimedes, E.J Dijksterhuis(As many on this list, this is considered…
on “10,000 Hours with Claude Shannon (2017)” ↗…Imaginary History of Algebra (John Derbyshire, 2007) 5. Journey through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics (William Dunham, 1991) 6. Riemann’s Zeta Function (H. M. Edwards, 1971) 7. Gamma: Exploring Euler’s Constant (Julian Havil, 2009) 8. The Man Who Loved Only Numbers (Paul Hoffman, 1999) 9. The Riemann Zeta-Function: Theory and Applications. (Alexander Ivic, 2004) 10. e: The Story of a Number (Eli…
on “The Riemann Hypothesis, explained” ↗