What is a good book about math history?

Question

Which is a good book on math History?

I want to give it as a gift to a mathematician.

Do you know what type of things interest them? What is their area? Are you looking for a general book, or perhaps a biography of a particular mathematician? Some more information always helps. — Eric Naslund, Jan 02 '12 at 06:37
Maybe this thread helps: http://math.stackexchange.com/q/31058/ — t.b., Jan 02 '12 at 06:38
"God created the integers", a collection of translations of classic texts assembled by Stephen Hawking (or published under his name, anyway), is good in my view. (At least, I am a mathematician who received it as a gift from a family member one Christmas, and I was very pleased to get it.) — Matt E, Jan 02 '12 at 06:48
I had two copies of an book on the history of computers and the effects of computers on our lives. I eventually just gave the extra copy to a computer science Ph.D. student, guy who played soccer with me. He said "You're giving this to ME?" meaning that there was little chance a book I had picked out in his topic had much to tell him. So bear that in mind. Something in the nature of a diversion might be better, and less likely to already be owned. — Will Jagy, Jan 02 '12 at 06:53

lhf · Answer 1 · 2012-01-02T11:39:05.473

8

Though not strictly a history book, The Princeton Companion to Mathematics is a book I'd like to get as a gift but probably wouldn't buy.

edited Jan 02 '12 at 11:39

answered Jan 02 '12 at 11:26

lhf

1

Really? I bought myself a copy, as did at least one other math person I know. Totally worth the price. – Qiaochu Yuan Jan 03 '12 at 06:13
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@QiaochuYuan, sure, the book is totally worth the price. – lhf Jan 03 '12 at 11:15
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I bought it. But I probably wouldn't have except that right after it came out I happened to have a hundred dollars worth of miscellaneous coins which I brought to the bank, so it felt like free money. – Michael Lugo Feb 17 '12 at 19:28

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 02 '12 at 10:01

4

"Mathematics and its History", by John Stillwell.

"Men of mathematics", by Eric Temple bell- awesome set of biographies of mathematicians from Archimedes to Poincare.

Leonard Dickson's "History of number theory".

"A beautiful mind" by Sylvia Nasar, a biography of John Nash, but gives VERY good glimpses of Math and its History esp. during 20th century.

answered Jan 02 '12 at 10:01

nb1

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Some of the stuff in Bell's work is nice, but a bit embellished in places. The section on Galois is particularly notorious... – J. M. ain't a mathematician Jan 02 '12 at 10:05
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yes, that's true. I included it particularly because of the passion with which he writes. – nb1 Jan 02 '12 at 10:07

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 02 '12 at 11:03

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I enjoyed reading the biographies of Hilbert and Courant by Constance Reid very much.

answered Jan 02 '12 at 11:03

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 17 '12 at 19:18

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I read Journey Through Genius a while ago and I absolutely loved it. Highly recommended.

answered Feb 17 '12 at 19:18

The average user review is pretty high on Amazon. This is a must read for all Mathematics lovers. – DeveloperInToronto Feb 17 '12 at 19:19

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 17 '12 at 19:22

2

answered Feb 17 '12 at 19:22

Aru Ray

5 Answers5