⋙ Download Mathematics From the Birth of Numbers Jan Gullberg 9780393040029 Books

Mathematics From the Birth of Numbers Jan Gullberg 9780393040029 Books

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Mathematics From the Birth of Numbers Jan Gullberg 9780393040029 Books

I love this book, and I use it for supplemental reading in several of the advanced math classes that I teach. It is not a "flashy" book or a coffee table book, but what it lacks in color it more than makes up for in completeness.

It should be on every math major's bookshelf, and within arm's reach of every math aficionado.

The author's obcession/love of mathematics is evident in its rigorous detail.

It would be a fabulous gift for any math major or history major...even for a budding anthropologist.


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Mathematics From the Birth of Numbers Jan Gullberg 9780393040029 Books Reviews

This is an excellent book for covering all topics in Mathematics, and for teaching you the history of Mathematics. You don't have to be a super duper maths genius to understand it, and when you have a question, you can google it. For example, I googled, "How can factorial 0 equal 1?" and found the answer. I'm no maths genius by any stretch, but I study math for mental exercise and it helps me in my daily life. This book is a lot of fun, I carry it with me if I know I will have to wait somewhere.
Incredible text on everything mathematics. This book was written by a physician with a passionate hobby for mathematics to aid his son in college. It is infused with comical notes that help make the assimilation of knowledge enjoyable. It acts as a historical account as well, taking you from the very beginning of mathematical applications for trading and primitive accounting to Greek contributions and ultimately modern mathematics. I highly recommend this text for anyone who would like to better fortify their mathematical foundations or who would like to improve on their own skills delivered from a different perspective than academically taught mathematics.
This book is a wonderful supplement to the standard high school curriculum, beginning with algebra and extending through Euclidean geometry, analytic geometry, to differential and integral calculus, and including brief introductions to other "back of the book" topics like probability, determinants, and so on. It is full of hard-to-find details left behind by most texts, such as explicit solutions to third- and fourth- degree polynomials in one variable. It's fun to browse this book in search of such tidbits to fill in your mathematical knowledge.
"Mathematics..." is written at a level just right for someone who has progressed as far as calculus or college engineering math but no further. It is also nice that the myriad (albeit brief) historical references help connect the material with its initial development. Unfortunately, the lack of any contextual information (brief biographies would be welcome) make these references rather dry and unrevealing authors, dates, and titles of publications is frequently all we get.
I have to agree, too, with the Willingboro reviewer although this text covers a wide variety of traditional high school and early college topics, at the same time it clearly exhausts its author's knowledge of the subject and therefore cannot provide a foundation for proceeding further. It is akin to a travelogue that directs the reader along completed, well-worn paths, visiting all the conventional landmarks, without pointing out the existence of other paths, other points of interest, or taking the readers to lookout points and vistas suggesting territory remaining to be explored.
Almost all the topics covered are ancient, rarely extending beyond what was known by the middle of the 19th century. (A chapter on fractals is the only exception.) Many important and modern subjects are barely mentioned and certainly not developed beyond the limited introduction available in most high school texts graph theory, number theory, complex analysis, algebraic geometry, functional analysis, group theory, Galois theory, differential geometry, category theory, ..., the list can go on and on. (For example, topology--a vast subject--gets less than three pages, whereas eight pages are devoted to illustrating the routine mechanics of solving euclidean triangles using trigonometry.) This is a shame, because the wealth of topics nevertheless discussed by this book provides an amazing foundation for introducing these modern ideas and pointing out their deeper implications and ramifications. As a result, mathematics comes out looking like a kind of beautiful fossil rather than an organic, evolving creature.
Quite simply, the best book on mathematics that I have ever read. I have lent this book out and never got it back several times which has forced me to repurchase it again and again. It's not only a great reference book, a great history book, and a great read, but also a great example of how books of this genre should be written.
This book is amazing for three reasons. First, it was not written by a mathematician yet it is a great, and in many places detailed, mathematics book. Second, it tackles very diverse topics. Third, it has really funny cartoons. You can read this book from cover to cover like I did, or pick out random chapters. There are chapters on logic, calculus, trigonometry, set theory, topology, geometry, number systems, fractals, complex numbers, and so much more. However, you must be warned that this is not a textbook. In many cases the author does not explain how he got a certain result. Instead. he just writes it down. Don't pick up this book and complain that the chapter on integrals does not explain why certain methods are used. This is not the main idea behind the book. I think that as a reference this book is great. You can easily find whatever it is you are looking for and the material is presented with some humour.
It has been said that if you are to own one math book, then this should be it. I think that this is true but not for all people. If you should own one reference book about material which is not very advanced, then yes, this is the book. However, if you want a book ABOUT math, then I think 'The World of Mathematics' by Newman is the one you should own. Personally, if I were to own just one math book it would definitely be Hardy's 'A course of pure mathematics'. But why own just one math book? Buy all of them!
I love this book, and I use it for supplemental reading in several of the advanced math classes that I teach. It is not a "flashy" book or a coffee table book, but what it lacks in color it more than makes up for in completeness.

It should be on every math major's bookshelf, and within arm's reach of every math aficionado.

The author's obcession/love of mathematics is evident in its rigorous detail.

It would be a fabulous gift for any math major or history major...even for a budding anthropologist.