Bibliograph

Infinite ascent, a short history of mathematics, David Berlinski

Type

Label

Infinite ascent, a short history of mathematics, David Berlinski

Language

eng

resource.biographical

contains biographical information

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Infinite ascent

Oclc number

57573840

Responsibility statement

David Berlinski

Series statement

Modern Library chronicles

Sub title

a short history of mathematics

Summary

In Infinite Ascent, David Berlinski, the acclaimed author of The Advent of the Algorithm, A Tour of the Calculus, and Newton's Gift, tells the story of mathematics, bringing to life with wit, elegance, and deep insight a 2,500-year-long intellectual adventure. Berlinski focuses on the ten most important breakthroughs in mathematical history-and the men behind them. Here are Pythagoras, intoxicated by the mystical significance of numbers; Euclid, who gave the world the very idea of a proof; Leibniz and Newton, co-discoverers of the calculus; Cantor, master of the infinite; and Gödel, who in one magnificent proof placed everything in doubt. The elaboration of mathematical knowledge has meant nothing less than the unfolding of human consciousness itself. With his unmatched ability to make abstract ideas concrete and approachable, Berlinski both tells an engrossing tale and introduces us to the full power of what surely ranks as one of the greatest of all human endeavors

Table Of Contents

Number -- Proof -- Analytic geometry -- The calculus -- Complex numbers -- Groups -- Non-Euclidean geometry -- Sets -- Incompleteness -- The present

Classification