Title: The search for certainty : a journey through the history of mathematics, 1800-2000 /
Authors: Swetz, Frank J., 1937-
Publisher: Dover Publications,
Year: 2012
Subjects: Mathematics History; Mathematics History
Contents: The changing concept of change: the derivative from Fermat to Weierstrass -- Niels Henrik Abel -- Olivier and Abel on series convergence: an episode from early 19th century analysis -- The parallel postulate -- Saccheri, forerunner of non-euclidean geometry -- The evolution of group theory: a brief survey -- The men responsible for the development of vectors -- Matrix theory I: Arthur Cayley-founder of Matrix Theory -- Matrix Theory II: basic properties -- Matrix Theory III: the characteristic equation; minimal polynomials -- Sylvester and Scott -- The early beginnings of set theory -- Infinity: the twilight zone of mathematics -- Irrationals or incommensurables V: their admission to the realm of numbers -- The genesis of point set topology: from Newton to Hausdorff -- The origin of the four-color conjecture -- Meta-mathematics and the modern conception of mathematics -- Intuition and logic in mathematics -- The three crises in mathematics: logicism, intuitionism, and formalism -- Kurt Godel, mathematician and logician -- Thinking the unthinkable: the story of complex numbers (with a moral) -- The development of modern statistics -- ENIAC: the first computer -- Dynamical systems: Birkhoff and Smale -- Fermat's last theorem: 1637-1988.