French and a maths question - learning

[Samsonknight]

I am seriously considering learning French over the summer. Out of self
interest.

Considering that I am going to be self -taught can anyone here reccommend me
any books that I can use in order to aid my quest in learning it.

Maths Question. I have finished my year and it has got me very very
interested learning more about the actual development/history of mathematics
as a language, rather then learning how to apply concepts - so I am able to
have a further understanding on some concepts, and why they have been
developed. It has been recommended by my tutor that I should read "Men of
Mathematics" by E.T. Bell which I am planning to read over this summer. What
do you think? Has anyone read "The development of Mathematics" by E.T. Bell,
if so? is that a better option to start off with.

Thanks.

[Dr A. N. Walker]

[...] It has been recommended by my tutor that I should read "Men of
Mathematics" by E.T. Bell which I am planning to read over this summer.

You should be warned that MoM is, shall we say, romanticised.
I suggest that you would do better to browse the St Andrews web site,
"http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history", if you are genuinely
interested in history of maths. That site includes biographies of every
famous or infamous mathematician [plus many who are virtually unknown],
including many modern ones, plus historical articles ranging over the
who subject, plus references and links.

For more general-interest background maths books, I would
recommend rather the classics by Courant and Robbins, Hogben and/or
Rouse Ball. Plus anything by Ian Stewart or Martin Gardner. Or
browse in the popular science section of Waterstone's -- there are
surprisingly many maths or maths-ish books there these days, a big
change from a decade or two ago when it was virtually impossible to
buy any maths book other than a school textbook unless you happened
to live in Oxbridge or Hay.

[Samsonknight]

Post by Dr A. N. Walker

[...] It has been recommended by my tutor that I should read "Men of
Mathematics" by E.T. Bell which I am planning to read over this summer.

You should be warned that MoM is, shall we say, romanticised.
I suggest that you would do better to browse the St Andrews web site,
"http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history", if you are genuinely
interested in history of maths. That site includes biographies of every
famous or infamous mathematician [plus many who are virtually unknown],
including many modern ones, plus historical articles ranging over the
who subject, plus references and links.

Thank you for the link Andy. It is very much appreciated.

Wow what can I say, there are absolutely tonnes of mathematicians on this
web site (a bit ironic that it had to be on the St andrews web site), I am
clueless on where to start. My instict tells me to read about Napier, Euler,
Pascal and Newton first, as I have become rather familiar with them.

Any chance that your own biogrophy will be listed among all these other
mathematicians?

Yep,I have read a couple of reviews of "MoM" prior to posting a new thread
(one being on the St Andrews web site) and indeed I read exactly the same
thing, MoM is generally seem to be"romanticised". Not sure if that is a good
or bad thing, providing it gets to the point.

Post by Dr A. N. Walker
For more general-interest background maths books, I would
recommend rather the classics by Courant and Robbins, Hogben and/or
Rouse Ball. Plus anything by Ian Stewart or Martin Gardner. Or
browse in the popular science section of Waterstone's -- there are
surprisingly many maths or maths-ish books there these days, a big
change from a decade or two ago when it was virtually impossible to
buy any maths book other than a school textbook unless you happened
to live in Oxbridge or Hay.

I will have a look. Thanks again Andy.

[Mark Thakkar]

Samsonknight,

Post by Samsonknight
Maths Question. I have finished my year and it has got me very very
interested learning more about the actual development/history of
mathematics as a language, rather then learning how to apply concepts
- so I am able to have a further understanding on some concepts, and
why they have been developed. It has been recommended by my tutor that
I should read "Men of Mathematics" by E.T. Bell which I am planning to
read over this summer.

I strongly recommend William Dunham's "Journey Through Genius", which is
rightly hailed in the blurb as "a rare combination of the historical,
biographical, and mathematical". As the subtitle ("The Great Theorems
of Mathematics") suggests, it's selective rather than comprehensive, and
is therefore more consistently fascinating than most histories of maths.
You can find it at http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/014014739X .

I'm surprised your tutor suggested "Men of Mathematics" - the history of
maths has come a long way since 1937. MoM is a classic, but it's mainly
of historical interest. (Rather like Burckhardt on the Renaissance...)

Mark.

[Samsonknight]

Post by Mark Thakkar
Samsonknight,

Post by Samsonknight
Maths Question. I have finished my year and it has got me very very
interested learning more about the actual development/history of
mathematics as a language, rather then learning how to apply concepts
- so I am able to have a further understanding on some concepts, and
why they have been developed. It has been recommended by my tutor that
I should read "Men of Mathematics" by E.T. Bell which I am planning to
read over this summer.

I strongly recommend William Dunham's "Journey Through Genius", which is
rightly hailed in the blurb as "a rare combination of the historical,
biographical, and mathematical". As the subtitle ("The Great Theorems
of Mathematics") suggests, it's selective rather than comprehensive, and
is therefore more consistently fascinating than most histories of maths.
You can find it at http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/014014739X .
I'm surprised your tutor suggested "Men of Mathematics" - the history of
maths has come a long way since 1937. MoM is a classic, but it's mainly
of historical interest. (Rather like Burckhardt on the Renaissance...)
Mark.

Thank you for your reply, I will most certainly check that book out.

I have no idea why he recommended me "MoM". My only explanation, given that
you have said that "MoM" is a "classic", could be down to the fact that he
himself is very "classical" in the way he approaches any form of
mathematics, even historical. He also comes from a physics background, so I
don't know if that could be why he has chosen me to read that book over
others.

What level of mathematics would I need to have to understand some of the
theorems in this book? I have a fairly good grasp of AL mathematics, but I
am alien to anything that involves further maths and beyond.

[Mark Thakkar]

Samsonknight,

Post by Samsonknight

William Dunham's "Journey Through Genius", which is rightly hailed in
the blurb as "a rare combination of the historical, biographical, and
mathematical". As the subtitle ("The Great Theorems of Mathematics")
suggests, it's selective rather than comprehensive, and is therefore
more consistently fascinating than most histories of maths.

What level of mathematics would I need to have to understand some of
the theorems in this book? I have a fairly good grasp of AL
mathematics, but I am alien to anything that involves further maths
and beyond.

You'll be absolutely fine - while he does give proofs for the theorems,
he doesn't use anything more advanced than some basic integration.

Mark.