archive

The glory of math is to matter

Catherine Rowett (East Anglia): Philosophy's Numerical Turn: Why the Pythagoreans' Interest in Numbers Is Truly Awesome. From PUP, the introduction to Count Like an Egyptian: A Hands-on Introduction to Ancient Mathematics by David Reimer; the introduction to Taming the Unknown: A History of Algebra from Antiquity to the Early Twentieth Century by Victor J. Katz and Karen Hunger Parshall; the introduction to Enlightening Symbols: A Short History of Mathematical Notation and Its Hidden Powers by Joseph Mazur (and more and more); the first chapter from Three Views of Logic: Mathematics, Philosophy, and Computer Science by Donald W. Loveland, Richard E. Hodel and S. G. Sterrett; the first chapter from Math Bytes: Google Bombs, Chocolate-Covered Pi, and Other Cool Bits in Computing by Tim Chartier; and the introduction to The Best Writing on Mathematics 2014, ed. Mircea Pitici. Sean Walsh, Eleanor Knox, and Adam Caulton review Mathematics and Scientific Representation by Christopher Pincock. Seeker, doer, giver, ponderer: William J. Broad on James A. Simons: A billionaire mathematician’s life of ferocious curiosity. Amir Alexander on why the glory of math is to matter. A tenacious explorer of abstract surfaces: Erica Klarreich on how Maryam Mirzakhani’s monumental work draws deep connections between topology, geometry and dynamical systems. Watch Maryam Mirzakhani, the first woman to win mathematics' top prize, explain her work. Michael J. Barany on how math got its “Nobel”. From the Oughtred Society, dedicated to the preservation and history of slide rules and other calculating instruments, Robert A. James on the deaths of the slide rule. You can download The History of Mathematics: An Introduction by David M. Burton (2011).