A wealth of numbers [ an anthology of 500 years of popular mathematics writing

Despite what we may sometimes imagine, popular mathematics writing didn't begin with Martin Gardner. In fact, it has a rich tradition stretching back hundreds of years. This entertaining and enlightening anthology--the first of its kind--gathers nearly one hundred fascinating selections from th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Wardhaugh, Benjamin , 1979- (Author)
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: Princeton : Princeton University Press , c2012
Subjects:
Table of Contents:
  • 1. "Sports and pastimes, done by number" : mathematical tricks, mathematical games
  • 2. "Much necessary for all states of men" : from arithmetic to algebra
  • 3. "A goodly struggle" : problems, puzzles, and challenges
  • 4. "Drawyng, measuring and proporcion" : geometry and trigonometry
  • 5. Maps, monsters, and riddles : the worlds of mathematical popularization
  • 6. "To ease and expedite the work" : mathematical instruments and how to use them
  • 7. "How fine a mind" : mathematicians past
  • 8. "By plain and practical rules" : mathematics at work
  • 9. "The speedier expedition of their learning" : thoughts on teaching and learning mathematics
  • 10. "So fundamentally useful a science" : reflections on mathematics and its place in the world
  • 11. The mathematicians who never were : fiction and humor