Full Description
Our modern understanding of mathematics is shaped largely by its development on the European continent. Other cultures have played only a marginal role in this narrative. Yet what forms of mathematical exchange existed - already in antiquity and again at the dawn of the modern era - with scholars from the Indian subcontinent? Or even with Chinese mathematicians?
The historical record is fragmentary, but it is clear that ancient China developed a wealth of notations and techniques long before they became known or used in India and Europe.
This book reveals the astonishing diversity of mathematical ideas that emerged outside Europe and shows how, in time, mathematics in Europe itself awakened from its medieval slumber. It presents a series of vivid biographical portraits of mathematicians from these cultures, together with clear explanations of the mathematical problems and theories they explored - and the solutions they devised.
This book is a translation of the original German 'Geschichten aus der Mathematik' by Heinz Klaus Strick, published by Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE, part of Springer Nature in 2023. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com). 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. Springer Nature works continuously to further the development of tools for the production of books and on the related technologies to support the authors.
This book is a masterpiece. ... The book is easy reading, fantastically equipped with illustrations, many in colour, but above all, by means of pictures of stamps; pretty stuff! The book has a very good index as such; many overviews by means of diagrams, too. The book is unique in its presentation ... (Robert W. van der Waall, zbMath)
