Reviews for Basic Mathematics (Discounted Version)

The average rating for Basic Mathematics (Discounted Version) based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-12-26 00:00:00 Amanda Cardinali I came across this outstanding book in my schooldays, and read it then, not understanding much, but enough to know that I had got hold of something awesome. It made the subject of maths and the mathematicians come to life. Maths class at school was not as boring as it used to be, after realizing that Archimedes and Newton were real, flesh-and-blood men. Then I read the book again, while at engineering college. This time around, I was familiar with at least the names of the important mathematicians, and knew a little about their work. After this second reading, I felt more than a little love for the subject of maths, when I learned about the interesting lives that the mathematicians had led, and the often curious ways in which they had created the mathematics that we now took so much for granted. I realized that in the world of the intellect, Cauchy, Riemann, Newton, Liebnitz, Gauss, Abel and all the rest of them were true heroes. Not only that, many of them did their magnificent work in the face of desperate odds against them, like Abel and Galois. Knowing all this made the subject of mathematics come alive to me, and to this day, mathematics remains a thing of beauty to me. For this wonderful gift, I am forever indebted to E. T. Bell's Men of Mathematics.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-06-19 00:00:00 Michael Smith A must read for anybody interested in the life of Mathematicians, the history of Math, or Math itself. The author has managed to make a seemingly dull subject lively and fun to read. Highly recommended.