817 pages : 24 cm

"Beginning with the Babylonian and Egyptian mathematicians of antiquity, The Rainbow of Mathematics charts the growth of mathematics, through its refinement by ancient Greeks and medieval Arabs, to its systematic development by Europeans from the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century. The traditions of the Far East are also examined. The book describes the evolution of all the major aspects of the discipline: arithmetic and geometry; trigonometry and algebra; the interplay between mathematics, physics, and mathematical astronomy; and "new" branches such as probability, statistics, and mathematical economics. Authoritative and comprehensive, The Rainbow of Mathematics is a unique account of the development of the science that is at the heart of so many sciences. Book jacket."--BOOK JACKET

Originally published: The Fontana history of the mathematical sciences. London : Fontana Press, 1997 ; first American edition published under the title: The Norton history of the mathematical sciences. New York : W.W. Norton, 1998

Includes bibliographical references (pages 763-788) and index

Pre-viewing the rainbow -- Invisible origins and ancient traditions -- A quiet millennium : from the early Middle Ages into the European Renaissance -- The age of trigonometry : Europe, 1540-1660 -- The calculus and its consequences, 1660-1750 -- Analysis and mechanics at centre stage, 1750-1800 -- Institutions and the profession after the French Revolution -- Mathematical analysis and geometries, 1800-1860 -- The expanding world of algebras, 1800-1860 -- Mechanics and mathematical physics, 1800-1860 -- International mathematics, but the rise of Germany -- The rise of set theory : mathematical analysis, 1860-1900 -- Algebras and geometries : their relations and axioms, 1860-1900 -- An era of stability : mechanics, 1860-1900 -- An era of media : mathematical physics, 1860-1900 -- The new century, to the Great War and beyond -- Re-viewing the rainbow

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