Entertaining and Enlightening! | Journey through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics

Informative. Inspiring. Intriguing. | Journey through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics | William Dunham

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	• Journey through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics William Dunham Penguin (Non-Classics), 1991 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 78 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Best History of Math Book I've Read

This text was used in a History of Mathematics class that I took. It was one of the few books that had an enormous impact on my life. For the first time I saw the way that mathematics directly influenced and impacted human beings, society and history at large. Each chapter does a fabulous job of bringing to life the mathematicians and their times. Even more telling, the climax of each chapter is a mathematical proof that the author leads you through. I have used this book as a supplementary text as a high school teacher, and though my students could not follow the proofs, they enjoyed reading the stories (advanced high school students could probably follow them). Readers who have a basic background in mathematics should be able to follow most of the proofs with patience. I remember glossing over some of the proofs when I was in college, but when I came back to them later I was genuinely impressed. The writing is great, the choices of mathematicians is fairly diverse, and the math itself is the main feature. Anyone who wants to understand the way that mathematics really fits into our universe should give this book a try. It is arguably one of the best books about mathematics, that includes mathematic, that is out there. (I would highly recommend this for any history of math class and as a supplementary text for appropriate classes...

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Entertaining and Enlightening!

I am a senior in college, majoring in Mathematics Education. Last semester, I had to take a Math History class. Before I started the class, I read Journey Through Genius (I chewed through it on my off-time). The book required for my class ended up being Math Through the Ages. It did not take me long to realize that my teacher had made a terrible choice in texts. Ages is terribly disjointed and redundant. And worse, it is dry and dull. Journey, on the other hand, was an extremely entertaining telling of the history of mathematics. I have always been good at math, and had made it through Calculus 3 before reading Journey, and yet I still learned so much about basic mathematical concepts from this outstanding book. On top of that, I actually ENJOYED reading Journey. I don't know how many times my husband called me "geek" and "nerd" as I chuckled my way through the different mathematicians (especially Cardano). I recommend this book to all math students and math lovers. I think it would be a great addition to a high school math student's education as well.

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Informative. Inspiring. Intriguing.

This book is an amazing journey through the centuries of human struggle to enhance the language of mathematics in order to understand the nature. It sheds light on the human story behind evolving of mathematics. There are no dry mathematical theorems. Rather, these theorems and proofs are written in a way that fascinates and inspires the reader. This lucidly written book inspires to study more about the subject and number of polymaths it refers to.

Note on how to read: The book refers to many great human minds, throughout. I had little knowledge about Cicero or Leibniz. So, I usually google and read about them. It is a little digression and slows you down; but you learn much more. Similarly, a theorem or topic of interest, briefly discussed in epilogue of each chapter, can be studied in more detail, as you go along.

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Humbling

I had to read this for a course in Real Analysis, and I find myself rereading chapters or the whole book every year. A great read for a math minded person. Favorite chapter is definitely on Cantor.

It was fantastic!

Great read, just enough math to keep me interested, just enough story to keep everyone else interested.

Praise for William Dunhams Journey Through Genius The Great Theorems of Mathematics "Dunham deftly guides the reader through the verbal and logical intricacies of major mathematical questions and proofs, conveying a splendid sense of how the greatest mathematicians from ancient to modern times presented their arguments." ?Ivars Peterson Author, The Mathematical Tourist Mathematics and Physics Editor, Science News

"It is mathematics presented as a series of works of art; a fascinating lingering over individual examples of ingenuity and insight. It is mathematics by lightning flash." ?Isaac Asimov

"It is a captivating collection of essays of major mathematical achievements brought to life by the personal and historical anecdotes which the author has skillfully woven into the text. This is a book which should find its place on the bookshelf of anyone interested in science and the scientists who create it." ?R. L. Graham, AT&T Bell Laboratories

"Come on a time-machine tour through 2,300 years in which Dunham drops in on some of the greatest mathematicians in history. Almost as if we chat over tea and crumpets, we get to know them and their ideas?ideas that ring with eternity and that offer glimpses into the often veiled beauty of mathematics and logic. And all the while we marvel, hoping that the tour will not stop." ?Jearl Walker, Physics Department, Cleveland State University Author of The Flying Circus of Physics

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