A history in sum : 150 years of mathematics at Harvard (1825-1975) / Steve Nadis and Shing-Tung Yau.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nadis, Steve, 1954-

Contributor:

Yau, Shing-Tung, 1949-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mathematics--Study and teaching--Massachusetts--History.

Mathematics.

Harvard University. Department of Mathematics.

Harvard University.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (280 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In the twentieth century, American mathematicians began to make critical advances in a field previously dominated by Europeans. Harvard's mathematics department was at the center of these developments. A History in Sum is an inviting account of the pioneers who trailblazed a distinctly American tradition of mathematics--in algebraic geometry, complex analysis, and other esoteric subdisciplines that are rarely written about outside of journal articles or advanced textbooks. The heady mathematical concepts that emerged, and the men and women who shaped them, are described here in lively, accessible prose. The story begins in 1825, when a precocious sixteen-year-old freshman, Benjamin Peirce, arrived at the College. He would become the first American to produce original mathematics--an ambition frowned upon in an era when professors largely limited themselves to teaching. Peirce's successors transformed the math department into a world-class research center, attracting to the faculty such luminaries as George David Birkhoff. Influential figures soon flocked to Harvard, some overcoming great challenges to pursue their elected calling. A History in Sum elucidates the contributions of these extraordinary minds and makes clear why the history of the Harvard mathematics department is an essential part of the history of mathematics in America and beyond.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Prologue: The Early Days- A "Colledge" Riseth in the Cowyards

1. Benjamin Peirce and the Science of "Necessary Conclusions"

2 Osgood, Bôcher, and the Great Awakening in American Mathematics

3. The Dynamical Presence of George David Birkhoff

4. Analysis and Algebra Meet Topology: Marston Morse, Hassler Whitney, and Saunders Mac Lane

5. Analysis Most Complex: Lars Ahlfors Gives Function Theory a Geometric Spin

6. The War and Its Aftermath: Andrew Gleason, George Mackey, and an Assignation in Hilbert Space

7. The Europeans: Oscar Zariski, Richard Brauer, and Raoul Bott

Epilogue: Numbers and Beyond

Notes

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780674727892

0674727894

9780674726550

0674726553

OCLC:

1024017922