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Description
This book invites you to marvel: discover how, for example, Archimedes was able to determine the area of a parabolic segment 1,800 years before the invention of classical integral calculus, derive a summation formula for square numbers with Ibn al-Haitham, or explore quaternions with Hamilton.
The 21 selected ideas are vividly developed with the help of numerous colour illustrations you will be astonished by the thought processes of mathematicians long since passed!
Many ingenious approaches have been almost entirely forgotten by posterity for instance, the polymaths from the Islamic cultural sphere are scarcely known in Europe today, despite their significant contributions to the development of mathematics. Each chapter therefore also provides information about the lives of these individuals and the eras in which they lived, notes and explanations on further questions they addressed, as well as extensive references to additional literature that is generally accessible.
The chapters can be read independently of one another where appropriate, connections to other chapters are indicated. Most topics can be followed with a solid background in upper or middle school mathematics, making the book suitable for anyone with an interest in mathematics but also for school study groups and as inspiration for extended essays.
This book is a translation of the original German 2nd edition Mathematik einfach genial! by Heinz Klaus Strick, published by Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE, part of Springer Nature in 2025. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence. In the subsequent editing, the author, with the friendly support of John O'Connor, St Andrews University, Scotland, tried to make it closer to a conventional translation. Still, the book may read stylistically differently from a conventional translation.
Pythagoras of Samos - Sect Leader and Philosopher.- Archimedes of Syracuse - Mathematician, Physicist and Engineer.- Diophantus of Alexandria Virtuoso Beginnings of Algebra and Number Theory.- Muhammed al-Khwarizmi - Father of Algebra.- Thabit ibn Qurra Brilliant Translator and Creative Mathematician.- Ali al-Hasan Ibn al-Haitham - Father of Optics.- Abu Arrayhan al-Biruni - Universal Scholar from Afghanistan.- Omar Khayyam - Mathematician, Philosopher, and Poet.- Jamshid al-Kashi - The Last Significant Mathematician of the Islamic Middle Ages.- Niccolò Tartaglia and Girolamo Cardano - Who Deserves the Credit?- John Napier - Master of Calculation.- René Descartes - Founder of Analytic Geometry.- Pierre de Fermat - Misjudged Mathematical Genius from the Provinces.- Blaise Pascal - Profound Theologian and Mathematician.- Abraham de Moivre - A Brilliant Frenchman in English Exile.- Leonhard Euler - "our master par excellence".- Joseph-Louis Lagrange - Versatile Mathematician and Physicist.- Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier - from the French Revolution to the Revolution in the Theory of Heat.- William Rowan Hamilton - an Unhappy Genius from Ireland.- Georg Cantor - Explorer of the Infinite- Giuseppe Peano Versatile Mathematician and Logician.
Heinz Klaus Strick studied mathematics and physics at the University of Cologne. For 37 years, he taught at a grammar school in Leverkusen, serving as headteacher for the last 21 years. Through his didactic articles, textbooks, lectures and teaching assignments at various universities, mathematics calendars (Mathematik-ist-schoen website), and several popular science books, he promotes engagement with mathematics. Since 2006, he has highlighted notable mathematicians and their brilliant ideas each month in Spektrum der Wissenschaft, translations into English are published on the MacTutor website of St Andrews. For his activities, he was awarded the Archimedes Prize of the MNU in 2002 and the Federal Cross of Merit in 2023.
