The infinite in the finite / Alistair Macintosh Wilson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wilson, Alistair Macintosh.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mathematics--History.

Mathematics.

History.

Physical Description:

xiii, 524 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1995.

Summary:

A conversation between Euclid and the ghost of Socrates...the paths of the sun and moon charted by the stone-circle builders of ancient Europe...the Babylonian method of counting in base sixty that gave us measurements of space and time that we still use today ...these stories and many others illustrate this unique and exciting book that tell the history of mathematics through the ages. Combining historical fact with a retelling of ancient myths and legends, Alistair Wilson introduces mathematical concepts and processes in a way that will totally disarm the reader who fears mathematics. Showing how mathematics arose out of the problems of everyday life he introduces geometry, propositional logic, prime numbers, quadratic equations, the Fibonacci sequences, remainder theorem, trigonometry, and much more. Each chapter contains a mathematical case study where the mathematics is applied to the problems of the era; the building of the pyramids, the prediction of eclipses, or the calculation of pi. Readers will see clearly the relevance and usefulness of the newly developed mathematics that they may never have seen before.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [509]-514) and index.

ISBN:

0198539509 :

OCLC:

31171662