One of the disappointments experienced by most mathematics students is that they never get a course in mathematics. They get courses in calculus, algebra, topology, and so on, but the division of labor in teaching seems to prevent these different topics from being combined into a whole. In fact, some of the most important and natural questions are stifled because they fall on the wrong side of topic boundary lines. Algebraists do not discuss the fundamental theorem of algebra because "that's analysis" and analysts do not discuss Riemann surfaces because "that's topology," for example. Thus if students are to feel they really know mathematics by the time they graduate, there is a need to unify the subject. This book aims to give a unified view of undergraduate mathematics by approaching the subject through its history. Since readers should have had some mathematical experience, certain basics are assumed and the mathe matics is not developed as formally as in a standard text. On the other hand, the mathematics is pursued more thoroughly than in most general histories of mathematics, as mathematics is our main goal and history only the means of approaching it. Readers are assumed to know basic calculus, algebra, and geometry, to understand the language of set theory, and to have met some more advanced topics such as group theory, topology, and differential equations.
Stillwell
Mathematics and Its History jetzt bestellen!
Zielgruppe
Lower undergraduate
Weitere Infos & Material
1 The Theorem of Pythagoras.- 2 Greek Geometry.- 3 Greek Number Theory.- 4 Infinity in Greek Mathematics.- 5 Polynomial Equations.- 6 Analytic Geometry.- 7 Projective Geometry.- 8 Calculus.- 9 Infinite Series.- 10 The Revival of Number Theory.- 11 Elliptic Functions.- 12 Mechanics.- 13 Complex Numbers in Algebra.- 14 Complex Numbers and Curves.- 15 Complex Numbers and Functions.- 16 Differential Geometry.- 17 Noneuclidean Geometry.- 18 Group Theory.- 19 Topology.- 20 Sets, Logic, and Computation.- References.
