Quote:
Originally Posted by Fancy Pants
For an excellent history of math and a good 2 weeks of straight reading, get The World of Mathematics by James R, Newman. Many of the essays were written when mathematicians were still struggling with the implications of the early 20th century discoveries in foundations of their science and you really get a sense of the excitement this was causing. Don't be put off by the date of publication. If you pick up one of these volumes, you won't be able to stop yourself from reading all four!*
*offer only valid for SMP
The first volume of The World of Mathematics is primarily biographical in nature and I'm about half of the way through it. I've started working into the second volume which is on Mathematics and the Physical World. To give everyone an idea of the contents of this collection, the first five topics in the second volume are as follows:
1. Mathematics of Motion by Galileo Galilei
2. Kinetic Theory of Gases by Daniel Bernoulli
3. The Longitude by Lloyd D. Brown
4. The Discovery of Neptune by Sir Harold Spencer Jones
5. Atomic Numbers by HGJ Moseley
I'm pretty excited to get into these. Anyone with an interest in the foundational mathematics of physics and science should seriously consider looking at this second volume.