Bernhard Riemann 1826-1866
Subtitle: turning points in the conception of mathematics
By: dDetlef Laugwitz ; translated by Abe Shenitzer with the editorial assistance of the author, Hardy Grant and Sarah Shenitzer.
Contributors: Shenitzer, Abe.
Publisher: Birkhauser
Published: 1999
Place of publication: Basel
Language: eng
Number of pages: 357
Subjects: Riemann, Bernhard, -- 1826-1866.
Description: This book, originally written in German and presented here in an English-language translation, is the first attempt to examine Riemann's scientific work from a single unifying perspective. Laugwitz describes Riemann's development of a conceptual approach to mathematics at a time when conventional algorithmic thinking dictated that formulas and figures, rigid constructs, and transformations of terms were the only legitimate means of studying mathematical objects.

David Hilbert gave prominence to the Riemannian principle of utilizing thought, not calculation, to achieve proofs. Hermann Weyl interpreted the Riemann principle - for mathematics and physics alike - to be a matter of "understanding the world through its behavior in the infinitely small.".

This remarkable work, rich in insight and scholarship, is addressed to mathematicians, physicists, and philosophers interested in mathematics. It seeks to draw those readers closer to the underlying ideas of Riemann's work and to the development of them in their historical context. This illuminating English-language version of the original German edition will be an important contribution to the literature of the history of mathematics.
Notes: Orginally published (in German) : Birkhauser Verlag 1996.