Significant Figures: The Lives and Work of Great Mathematicians by Ian Stewart (PDF)

Description

A celebrated mathematician traces the history of math through the lives and work of twenty-five pioneering mathematicians In Significant Figures, acclaimed mathematician Ian Stewart explores the work of 25 of history’s most important mathematicians, showing how they developed on each other’s work and built the mathematics we use today. Through these short biographies, we get acquainted with the history of mathematics from Archimedes to William Thurston, and learn about those too often left out of the cannon, such as Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, the creator of algebra; Ada Lovelace, the world’s first computer programmer; and Emmy Noether, whose research on symmetry paved the way for modern physics. Tracing the evolution of mathematics over the course of two millennia, Significant Figures will educate and delight aspiring mathematicians and experts alike.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Significant Figures is great broad but select history of mathematicians that I enjoyed because abstract math was cleverly discussed so it could be understood relatively easily.

⭐I enjoyed Ian Stewart’s history of mathematics, entitled “Significant Figures: The Lives and Work of Great Mathematicians”, which includes the biographies of some notable mathematicians. I found that this book had a great format, combining character insights into people, a history of a subject as well as a powerful approach to teach people about mathematical concepts and how they interconnect. I particularly liked the way Stewart was able to describe concepts such as Turing’s insights into computation and Gödel’s insights into logic and link them together with their lives. I also enjoyed the way that he explained the construction of non-Euclidian geometries and how this, of course, is built one person on top of another.The book has lots of great character insights into why these individuals were so brilliant. I particularly liked the story of how Carl Gauss was able to quickly solve a simple addition problem — summing up all the numbers from one to 100 very quickly — that is easily grasped now but which clearly illuminates his brilliance as a young child.Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone. I think a little knowledge of mathematics is useful because some of the sections benefit from some understanding of calculus, group theory, &c.

⭐I received the book in great condition as described, but it would’ve been nice to know it’s a former library book, which was not mentioned!

⭐…and I enjoyed learning about the often impoverished, unique, and lonely lives of the majority of famous mathematicians, and some of the math. The writer is a math professor, so he concentrates on the “great discoveries” of math, not on applied math or math related to, say, practical problems of living. Fortunately for the writer, he actually understands a lot of the math.There is nothing in this book, however, about the “spin-offs” from mathematical understanding, no applied math, no revelations that “un-theoretical” math brings us (such as computers). I suppose this is to be expected: the writer is a math professor, and “un-theoretical” math is vast, vast, vast.

⭐If you love mathematics and want to learn the story behind the men who invented it, then this book is for you. The writer brings to life very elegantly the story of these great mathematicians.

⭐If you like math, even as an aficionado, or if you enjoy reading about the history of science you will love this book.

⭐I loved this book. When I read the “Men of Mathematics” I was extremely annoyed that Sonya was in there under that title. Even so I loved that book too, although I physically changed the title to People of Mathematics. This was wonderful too and covered women – and more than one. I have always found that the math or physics or computer science is understood more deeply if you see how it came about and was discovered.

⭐It’s basically an update of Eric Temple Bell’s “Men of Mathematics”, although he does include people whom Bell already described (i.e. Archimedes, Newton, Gauss, Riemann, Boole). And he does go on to write about people whom Bell didn’t include such as Ada Lovelace and Emmy Noether. But it shares the same weaknesses as Bell’s original book, although he is never as lurid or opinionated as Bell. One could just as well read the corresponding articles in Wikipedia.

⭐Ian Stewart’s amibitious goal is to highlight the lives of ground breaking matheticians and their work and impact on mathematics and other fields. I enjoyed the biographies and appreciated his inclusions of Middle Eastern, Asian and women mathematicians (and not just included for the sole purpose of “diversity” – they truly belong there). I have to admit understanding some of the mathetical theories were a struggle for me and I wish he had gone further to explain how their contributions impacted our day to day to lives. Nevertheless, I think this is a book that math lovers (and non math lovers) can enjoy.

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