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#2 2005-11-19 18:21:04
- ganesh
- Moderator
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Re: a history of mathematics
Go here. The book is quite interesting. I'd love to read it. I saw the table of contents and I am impressed. $26.37 --- worth it! I am not sure whether any free downloadable version is available on the net. My guess - there isn't!
Character is who you are when no one is looking.
#3 2005-11-20 10:51:22
- mikau
- Super Member
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Re: a history of mathematics
I was wondering if there was any sort of book like this. Sure would be an interesting read. I always like when my mathbook lessons briefly talk about famous mathematicians, what they discovered, proved, etc. I'd like to know how it all started.
Another thing I'd like to know is where the names "algebra" and "calculus" came from. Trigonometry is obvious but algebra and calculus, dunno. While we're on the subject, how do we define "algebra" and "calculus"? Algebra might be called the study of equations? Calculus, studying magic? :-D
A logarithm is just a misspelled algorithm.
#4 2005-11-20 12:04:33
- kylekatarn
- Power Member
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Re: a history of mathematics
Yes, Calculus teachers sometimes use wizardry and wicca to proof theorems.
#6 2005-11-20 16:31:07
- MathsIsFun
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Re: a history of mathematics
... but only *very small* stones.
In Medicine a calculus is, for example, a kidney stone!
And on the subject of proofs, I remember some mathamatician, on being asked how he developed his special proof, said (and I can't remember his actual words but they were something like:)
"well, really I had this sudden idea while travelling on the bus ... it then took me months to work backwards from that idea ... then I had to make it look like I had worked it all out forwards"
"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..." - Leon M. Lederman