A History of Mathematics, Second Edition

I first bought the firt edition about 25 years ago when I was still a matriculation student preparing the examination to university. This book has been with me for more than one fourth of a decade. I also own the second edition of the same book.It is a pity that the new author did not take the opportunity to expand the book to a much wider scale. ( what I mean is not to a encycoplaedic but at least expand the history of mathematics in the 20 the century. Now back to the book. What makes this book different other ones, I think it is the historical intuition of Boyer makes this book eternal. Some book arrange the content chronologically and somes book arrange the content according to the topics. However, Boyer cleverly combined that two . Also, he also extinctly discuss the topics proportional to their importance in the history. There is not too much mathematics andthere is not too few mathematics, Just a few words to describe that is " that book is really well balanced " and gives you everything and also the range of audience is wide, coupled with the very very reasonable price, it is the book on mathematical history who are interested should own one.

I picked up this and Burton's similarly named book, and I just wanted to make a few comments and comparisons of the two.First off, both are excellent reads, and although they cover the same subject they approach it in two different manners. Boyer's text takes the style of a history book to approach the topic. It often focuses on the people and on the time period, commenting on political/cultural going-on. Its an enjoyable book to read, almost in the sense of reading a novel. Usually the mathematics is brought up in the text, but most of the proofs and derivations are often glossed over. Possible many of those mathematical details were in the questions that are no longer at the end of the chapters. But I found missing those details to be somewhat frustrating.Conversely Burton takes the approach of a mathematics textbook that follows the story line of history. Its filled with proofs and examples, but isn't quite as rich in historical content. Each chapter ends with numerous "homework" problems, often times relating to specific solutions to a problem found by different mathematicians.Both are excellent books, but depending on your personal taste and interests you may prefer one approach over the other. If you are looking to sit down and work through historical mathematical problems, Burton is probably right for you. If you want to cozy up and imagine what life and thought was like throughout different times in civilization, Boyer is probably your answer.Hope this is helpful.

As advertised

lengthy, well-rounded. as "wet" (not dry) as it can be without loosing its professionalism and keeping with subject (it's math history, not an epic).inference by reader can be made toward history of cultures, cultural anthropology, origin of numbers to modern day math.

Very good book and a must have if interested in the history of mathematics.

Mainly conceptual patterns. Not meant for organization or structural engineering applications.

A very comprehensive review. Interestingly, the newer edition has typos that are not in this (2nd) edition.

Practically any page you open this book to presents fascinating insight into some step in the development of mathematics.

This is a challenging read for the general reader. A lot of mathematical content is included, but in a fairly concise form which makes that material difficult for the non-expert to follow. The book can, however, be read with much interest on a non-technical level for the historical context. That is what I am doing as a person with A-level plus some university-level knowledge.

The History of Mathematics was bought as a birthday gift for my brother who loves the subject (yes, unbelievable as it may seem, there are ordinary people out there who adore maths). It arrived well in good time for his birthday and he was completely bowled over by the book. I had a wonderful response from him regarding his birthday present, so it ticked all the boxes for me.

I would strongly recommend this book as it gives a very wide coverage of the overall history of mathematics - right from its earliest beginnings to the present day. It still manages to convey a great deal of detail despite the book's wide scope.

Fine good value

A very thorough book detailing the history of mathematics and its impact on all cultures and human civilization.