Description
Book SynopsisThese topics, together with a succinct analysis of some of the great mathematical personalities of the past three centuries, combine to form an eclectic and fascinating blend of story and scientific inquiry.
Trade ReviewThe authors' careful treatments are an especially welcome addition to a genre riddled with apocryphal anecdotes and shoddy scholarship. -- Donald O'Shea Nature 2007 A fine book, providing for agreeable and easy reading. -- Michael Otte Mathematical Reviews 2008
Table of ContentsPreface
Introduction
Part I: Tour of the Literature
1. Mathematicians and Their World
2. Mathematical Ability
3. The Dynamics of Mathematical Creation
Part II: Twenty Mathematical Personalities
4. Lagrange, Gauss, Cauchy, and Dirichlet
5. Hamilton, Galois, Byron, and Riemann
6. Cantor, Kovalevskaya, Poincaré, and Hilbert
7. Hadamard, Hardy, Noether, and Ramanujan
8. Fisher, Wiener, Dirac, and Gödel
References
Index