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Product Description
Revised 4th edition covers major mathematical ideas and techniques from ancient Near East to 20th-century computer theory. Work of Archimedes, Pascal, Gauss, Hilbert, etc.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book has been around for many years, but as a brief introduction to the history (and people) of mathematics, it is hard to beat. The treatment of the 16th to early 20th centuries, covering solutions of the cubic and the appearance of i (square root of -1) through to the beginnings of modern abstract mathematics, could hardly be improved on in so few pages.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is exactly what it says - concise. If you are looking for a detailed history I would recommend Carl Boyer's rather more substantial "A History of Mathematics". However, don't be put off by this, as Struik's book is perfect if you just want an overview of the subject. I have found it particularly useful because it spends the majority of its time discussing later European Mathematics, and less time on Babylonian and Classical, which, although very interesting, don't really help the reader to understand the transformations of early practical maths into the abstract entity that we see today. The chapters vary in length, but are conveniently split into numbered sections, and thoroughly referenced. Not too much prior mathematical knowledge is needed, and there are very few actual equations, but some idea of general topics would certainly help the reader to fully appreciate the argument. Some people may find the style of writing intense, but overall I would certainly recommend this book to anyone, student or otherwise, wishing to enhance their knowledge of Mathematics and its origins.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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9 reviews
50 of 53 people found the following review helpful
Pocket size Bible of History of Mathematics
13 Aug 2000
Format:Paperback
If you are looking for a book that clearly describes the evolution of mathematics, you don't need to try more, this book is for you.
Struik's book, "A Concise History of Mathematics", is a well documented book with the main contributions, dates, and names of the people involved in the development of mathematics from their ancients origins until the first half of the 20th century.
Struik's style of writing is clear and, how the title of the book says, concise, highlighting the relevant discoveries made in the field and relating them in order to give a better understanding of the subject.
Reading is easy for all people because Struik avoids to use formulas where it is not necessary, focusing more in the works of the great mathematicians and describing them of a comprehensible way.
Another excellent feature of the book is the great bibliography that contains, with a many references to other books not only in English, but in other languages also.
Somebody would hope to find more mathematical demonstrations and more illustrations, but this is not the objective of the book, contents in a single volume of 228 pages are the most important facts of the history of the mathematics, therefore, the relationship between cost and content is excellent.
A Concise History of Mathematics is a classical book, written by a world wide recognized author, of a clear and concise manner.
All people interested in this area of the mathematics must have this book in their shelf.
19 of 25 people found the following review helpful
excellent context
31 Dec 2003
Format:Paperback
This is a particularly clear-minded view of the progression of mathematical history. The book serves to convince that understanding math (as possibly opposed to science) requires a knowledge of its history. The great advance of twentieth century mathematics is its achievement of higher levels of abstraction. But without the history this abstraction is just puff. This book leaves off at 1945.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Math, The Queen of Sciences
14 May 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is best suited for readers with a good knowledge of the various fields of mathematics. It does not expound any technical details, but refers to mathematical results with which one should already be acquainted. The author himself was a mathematician who researched the history of mathematics. The result was the material in this book that contains the names of numerous mathematicians and scientists, and their publications with Latin, French, and German titles. Most of the foreign language titles and quotes have English translation in the footnotes.
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