The area of study known as the history
of mathematics is primarily an investigation into the origin of discoveries in
mathematics and, to a lesser extent, an investigation into the mathematical
methods and notation of the past.The reader of this book, whether a layman, a
student, or a teacher of a course in the history of mathematics, will find
that the level of mathematical background that is presupposed is approximately
that of a college junior or senior, but the material can be perused profitably
also by readers with either stronger or weaker mathematical preparation.
The purpose of this book,
is to acquaint the student with mathematical language and mathematical life by
means of a number of historically important mathematical vignettes. This book
will also serve to help the prospective school teacher to become inured in some
of the important ideas of mathematics—both classical and modern.
Cajori's
A History of Mathematics (1894) was the first popular presentation of the
history of mathematics in the United States.This book covers the period from
antiquity to the close of World War I, with major emphasis on advanced
mathematics and, in particular, the advanced mathematics of the nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries.