A Wealth of Numbers: An Anthology of 500 Years of Popular Mathematics Writing
An entertaining and informative anthology of popular math writing from the Renaissance to cyberspace

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 antholog—the first of its kind—gathers nearly one hundred fascinating selections from the past 500 years of popular math writing, bringing to life a little-known side of math history. Ranging from the late fifteenth to the late twentieth century, and drawing from books, newspapers, magazines, and websites, A Wealth of Numbers includes recreational, classroom, and work mathematics; mathematical histories and biographies; accounts of higher mathematics; explanations of mathematical instruments; discussions of how math should be taught and learned; reflections on the place of math in the world; and math in fiction and humor.

Featuring many tricks, games, problems, and puzzles, as well as much history and trivia, the selections include a sixteenth-century guide to making a horizontal sundial; "Newton for the Ladies" (1739); Leonhard Euler on the idea of velocity (1760); "Mathematical Toys" (1785); a poetic version of the rule of three (1792); "Lotteries and Mountebanks" (1801); Lewis Carroll on the game of logic (1887); "Maps and Mazes" (1892); "Einstein's Real Achievement" (1921); "Riddles in Mathematics" (1945); "New Math for Parents" (1966); and "PC Astronomy" (1997). Organized by thematic chapters, each selection is placed in context by a brief introduction.

A unique window into the hidden history of popular mathematics, A Wealth of Numbers will provide many hours of fun and learning to anyone who loves popular mathematics and science.

1110781956
A Wealth of Numbers: An Anthology of 500 Years of Popular Mathematics Writing
An entertaining and informative anthology of popular math writing from the Renaissance to cyberspace

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 antholog—the first of its kind—gathers nearly one hundred fascinating selections from the past 500 years of popular math writing, bringing to life a little-known side of math history. Ranging from the late fifteenth to the late twentieth century, and drawing from books, newspapers, magazines, and websites, A Wealth of Numbers includes recreational, classroom, and work mathematics; mathematical histories and biographies; accounts of higher mathematics; explanations of mathematical instruments; discussions of how math should be taught and learned; reflections on the place of math in the world; and math in fiction and humor.

Featuring many tricks, games, problems, and puzzles, as well as much history and trivia, the selections include a sixteenth-century guide to making a horizontal sundial; "Newton for the Ladies" (1739); Leonhard Euler on the idea of velocity (1760); "Mathematical Toys" (1785); a poetic version of the rule of three (1792); "Lotteries and Mountebanks" (1801); Lewis Carroll on the game of logic (1887); "Maps and Mazes" (1892); "Einstein's Real Achievement" (1921); "Riddles in Mathematics" (1945); "New Math for Parents" (1966); and "PC Astronomy" (1997). Organized by thematic chapters, each selection is placed in context by a brief introduction.

A unique window into the hidden history of popular mathematics, A Wealth of Numbers will provide many hours of fun and learning to anyone who loves popular mathematics and science.

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A Wealth of Numbers: An Anthology of 500 Years of Popular Mathematics Writing

A Wealth of Numbers: An Anthology of 500 Years of Popular Mathematics Writing

by Benjamin Wardhaugh (Editor)
A Wealth of Numbers: An Anthology of 500 Years of Popular Mathematics Writing

A Wealth of Numbers: An Anthology of 500 Years of Popular Mathematics Writing

by Benjamin Wardhaugh (Editor)

Hardcover

$60.00 
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Overview

An entertaining and informative anthology of popular math writing from the Renaissance to cyberspace

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 antholog—the first of its kind—gathers nearly one hundred fascinating selections from the past 500 years of popular math writing, bringing to life a little-known side of math history. Ranging from the late fifteenth to the late twentieth century, and drawing from books, newspapers, magazines, and websites, A Wealth of Numbers includes recreational, classroom, and work mathematics; mathematical histories and biographies; accounts of higher mathematics; explanations of mathematical instruments; discussions of how math should be taught and learned; reflections on the place of math in the world; and math in fiction and humor.

Featuring many tricks, games, problems, and puzzles, as well as much history and trivia, the selections include a sixteenth-century guide to making a horizontal sundial; "Newton for the Ladies" (1739); Leonhard Euler on the idea of velocity (1760); "Mathematical Toys" (1785); a poetic version of the rule of three (1792); "Lotteries and Mountebanks" (1801); Lewis Carroll on the game of logic (1887); "Maps and Mazes" (1892); "Einstein's Real Achievement" (1921); "Riddles in Mathematics" (1945); "New Math for Parents" (1966); and "PC Astronomy" (1997). Organized by thematic chapters, each selection is placed in context by a brief introduction.

A unique window into the hidden history of popular mathematics, A Wealth of Numbers will provide many hours of fun and learning to anyone who loves popular mathematics and science.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780691147758
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication date: 04/29/2012
Pages: 392
Product dimensions: 6.40(w) x 9.18(h) x 1.12(d)

About the Author

Benjamin Wardhaugh is a postdoctoral research fellow at All Souls College, University of Oxford, where he studies and teaches the history of mathematics. He is the author of How to Read Historical Mathematics (Princeton).

Table of Contents

  • FrontMatter, pg. i
  • Contents, pg. v
  • Preface, pg. xiii
  • 1. “Sports and Pastimes, Done by Number”: Mathematical Tricks, Mathematical Games, pg. 1
  • 2. “Much Necessary for All States of Men”: From Arithmetic to Algebra, pg. 32
  • 3. “A Goodly Struggle”: Problems, Puzzles, and Challenges, pg. 62
  • 4. “Drawyng, Measuring and Proporcion”: Geometry and Trigonometry, pg. 84
  • 5. Maps, Monsters, and Riddles: The Worlds of Mathematical Popularization, pg. 108
  • 6. “To Ease and Expedite the Work”: Mathematical Instruments and How to Use Them, pg. 152
  • 7. “How Fine a Mind”: Mathematicians Past, pg. 176
  • 8. “By Plain and Practical Rules”: Mathematics at Work, pg. 216
  • 9. “The Speedier Expedition of Their Learning”: Thoughts on Teaching and Learning Mathematics, pg. 245
  • 10. “So Fundamentally Useful a Science”: Reflections on Mathematics and Its Place in the World, pg. 290
  • 11. The Mathematicians Who Never Were: Fiction and Humor, pg. 326
  • Index, pg. 367

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This accessible and inviting anthology shows how entertaining it can be to think about mathematics. The selection, organization, and commentaries result in a unique book that is equal to far more than the sum of its parts."—Paul C. Pasles, author of Benjamin Franklin's Numbers

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