Description: These insightful commentaries will give mathematicians and general historians a better understanding of why and how mathematics arose from the problems of everyday life, while the author's easy, accessible writing style will open fascinating chapters in the history of mathematics to a wide audience of general readers.
Review Quotes: "The author has woven together a broad historical backgrounding and some fairly detailed but accessible mathematics in a most exciting way." --John Fauvel, author of Let Newton Be!
"I'm inclined to characterise this book as one that will help people who are attracted to mathematics get to grips with history . . . it is a brave and largely successful attempt to weave both subjects together in an entertaining and informative manner."--The Times Higher"The book is rich historical context for these contributions and elaborating ancients myths connected to them. Yet, it also gives modern interpretations of classical concepts, such the illustration of the golden mean in the Boeing 747 jumbo jet....This book is an excellent choice for a mathematics club, and for those who are interested in understanding how mathematics has developed and been applied to the problems of specific eras."--Mathematics Association of America Online"If you want to know about the general historical circumstances of a certain mathematical period, in this book you will find more than in most other histories of mathematics, plus nice anecdotes. Together with a little group theory you will learn how the oracle of Zeus spoke from the rustling leaves of the oak at Dodona."--Mathematical Reviews