Product Description
Stories in Volume One focus on moments of mathematical discovery experienced by Thales, Pythagoras, Hypatia, Galileo, Pascal, Germain, and still others.Volume Two dramatizes the lives of Omar Khayyam, Albert Einstein, Ada Lovelace, and others.15 illustrated vignettes per book introduce students to great mathematicians from various cultures.Grades 3-7 Volume One ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Get them interested...
This book is a great way to inspire your little people to love math, and strive for higher goals like the people they will be reading about.

Bought for School
I bought this book for my wifes math class for college. She needed to write a research paper on one of the people in this book. She said it was a great resource for her research paper.

Good for many ages and topics in math and science
Mathematicians are People, Too has been a wonderful tool in introducing and enriching so many topics.There is a lot of useful information in this book and I have used it for both science and math lessons from the Pythagorean Theorem to density to women in the sciences, just to name a few.
The stories about real mathematicians brings a personal side to math and science and the reading of the stories brings added interest and diversity to the lessons.

Mathematicians for young people
I bought this book for my godson in Georgia to help him get some perspective on the math that he's studying now. From what his father tells me this book is excellent. As a math major I of course already had heard of these anecdotes. My only question was whether they had been presented adequately for children.

Great for a read-aloud
This books is excellent for a read-aloud to your children about ages 7 or 8 to 12.(10 and up or so could read on their own.)I read a chapter aloud each week to my children, and when I felt they'd understand a mathematical principle, I would try to explain that to them as well. No, it's not going to teach them a ton of math, but it does build excitement and interest for math and it makes math seem more personable.And I really like it that they include famous women mathematicians. ... Read more

Product Description

This revised and greatly expanded second edition of the Russian text Tales of Mathematicians and Physicists contains a wealth of new information about the lives and accomplishments of more than a dozen scientists throughout five centuries of history: from the first steps in algebra up to new achievements in geometry in connection with physics. The heroes of the book are renowned figures from early eras, such as Cardano, Galileo, Huygens, Leibniz, Pascal, Euler, Lagrange, and Laplace, as well some scientists of last century: Klein, Poincaré, and Ramanujan.

A unique mixture of mathematics, physics, and history, this volume provides biographical glimpses of scientists and their contributions in the context of the social and political background of their times. The author examines many original sources, from the scientists’ research papers to their personal documents and letters to friends and family; furthermore, detailed mathematical arguments and diagrams are supplied to help explain some of the most significant discoveries in calculus, celestial mechanics, number theory, and mathematical physics. What emerges are intriguing, multifaceted studies of a number of remarkable intellectuals and their scientific legacy.

Written by a distinguished mathematician and accessible to readers at all levels, this book is a wonderful resource for both students and teachers and a welcome introduction to the history of science.

Customer Reviews (1)

A glimpse into the biographies of some great minds!
Simon Gindikin did an excellent job in this new edition of his book. I got acquainted with his research not too long ago when reading an essay on Penrose's Twistor theory in the "Mathematical Intelligencer" by Springer dating from early 80's.
Eventually I found out the first edition of his book, which was already quite delightful.
The book, besides being filled with witty historical facts, contains also a few interesting problems to improve one's mathematical culture.
I'm particulary kind of the chapter on Huygens and his mechanical works,Poincare's ideas on non-euclidean geometry and finally and the above mentioned article on twistor theory(which could be included on a course on analytical/projective geometry, example).
As my usual cliche, "Two thumbs up!".
... Read more

Product Description
Presents biographies of women from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries who pursued their interests in mathematics. Each chapter includes different mathematical activities. ... Read more

Product Description
Observes the lives of nine women mathematicians and their particular contributions in the areas of number theory, calculus, topography, and abstract algebra. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

short and sweet
This was assigned as part of a 'women in math' class at my uni.I love hearing about these women's lives.I also love the exercises at the end of each biography.They are very simple so that even non-math majors can grasp the fundamental concepts of each chapter.As a math major, it's kind of relaxing to do these exercises.I do believe this book encourages an interest in mathematics.

Great Book
This book is very well written.It has wonderful information about the lives of these women and the activities are very creative and really promote a fun understanding of math.They require only a basic understanding of math concepts, yet can be taken to higher levels too.

Could have been better
This book could be a good starting place for those interested in reading about women mathematicians, but Perl places too much emphasis on these women as wives as mothers.For instance, the greater part of Grace Chisholm Young's biography was dedicated to her role as mother and wife. Only a short amount of Young's biography was dedicated to her math research and publications. I found this very disturbing,and, honestly quite an insult to these outstanding and courageous women. I also think it sends the wrong message to those women aspiring to be career mathematicians, that no matter how much you accomplish as a mathematician, you will always be thought of first as a wife and mother.

More on this needs to be written.
The book contains fascinating details of the lives of the very few womenin history with careers in Mathematics. It should be updated or extended totwo volumes to include the work of more recent women mathematicians.Woulddo well to include interviews with living women now working in thisfield.The end of each chapter includes examples of the type of work eachwoman was interested in, with exercises and activities. Good resource book

More on this needs to be written.
The book contains fascinating details of the lives of the very few womenin history with careers in Mathematics. It should be updated or extended totwo volumes to include the work of more recent women mathematicians.Woulddo well to include interviews with living women now working in thisfield.The end of each chapter includes examples of the type of work eachwoman was interested in, with exercises and activities. Good resource book ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Wiener's personal memoirs rather than a recapitulation of his professional accomplishments
Norbert Wiener was a first class mathematician and collaborator, yet he doesn't seem to get the due credit for both. As a globetrotting collaborator, he spent significant amounts of time in India, China, Mexico and many of the countries in Europe. This was before the advent of regular international flights, so his trips took a significant amount of time, which is why he spent so much time in those countries once he got there. Wiener also collaborated with Paul Erdos, the one person whose mathematical globetrotting clearly exceeds that of Wiener.
This is not a book about mathematics or even the mathematics that Wiener worked on. The main theme is the adult life of Wiener, where he went, what he did and the people he did it with. There are few phrases or even words that require any significant background in mathematics if they are to be understood. The style is that of a man who is simply talking about his life, setting down his personal memoirs rather than a recapitulation of his professional life.
While Wiener occasionally gets into the juicy side of personalities, that is a rare sidetrack, this is a book about Norbert Wiener. The titles of his two autobiographical books are "Ex-prodigy: My Childhood and Youth" and "I Am A Mathematician: The Later Life of a Prodigy." Wiener was known for his ego and that is demonstrated in the titles of these books. Some of that comes through in this book but thankfully; he does manage to keep that aspect of his personality in check.

Well written biography
Well written biography - what can I say else?It was very interesting toread the book. ... Read more

Product Description
In 1957 Stephen Smale startled the mathematical world byshowing that, in a theoretical sense, it is possible to turn a sphereinside out. A few years later, from the beaches of Rio, he introducedthe horseshoe map, demonstrating that simple functions could havechaotic dynamics. His next stunning mathematical accomplishment was tosolve the higher-dimensional Poincaré conjecture, thus demonstratingthat higher dimensions are simpler than the more familiar three. In1966 in Moscow, he was awarded the Fields Medal, the most prestigiousprize in mathematics.

Smale's vision and influence extended beyond mathematics into two vastly different realms. In 1965 in Berkeley, he initiated a program with Jerry Rubin of civil disobedience directed at ending the Vietnam War. And as a mineral collector, he accumulated a museum-quality collection that ranks among the finest in the world. Despite these diverse accomplishments, Smale's name is virtually unknown outside mathematics and mineral collecting. One of the objectives of this book is to bring his life and work to the attention of a larger community.

There are few good biographies of mathematicians. This makes sense when considering that to place their lives in perspective requires some appreciation of their theorems. Biographical writers are not usually trained in mathematics, and mathematicians do not usually write biographies. Though the author, Steve Batterson, is primarily a mathematician, he has long been intrigued by the notion of working on a biography of Smale. In this book, Batterson records and makes known the life and accomplishments of this great mathematician and significant figure in intellectual history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Biography of an Unusual Mathematician
Batterson's book is the only book length biography of Stephen Smale, a Field medalist (1966), who made major contributions to topology and dynamical systems. In the first half of the book, Smale is depicted as a brilliant mathematician who had a relatively humble beginning and was a relatively late bloomer as well.Atheme that runs through the book and one that predominates the middle part of the book is Smale's social activism. The last one-third of the book deals with a variety of topics - Smale interests in minerals and photography, his adventures trips (e.g. climbing mountains, sailing) and "other people" (family members, students and his involvement in a gender discrimination lawsuit filed a by a junior colleague). The book ends with a chapter with anassessment of Smale contributions and stature as a mathematician as well as his departure to take up an appointment in Hong Kong. Personally, I found the book to be fairly uneven - I particularly enjoyed reading the early chapters on Smale's coming of age as a creative mathematician.The middle part dealing his social activism was for me less enjoyable - partly due the extensive effort made to explain the socio-political events in the 1960s. These narratives distract the readers away from Smale mathematical work during this period but are essential as they provide the social-political environment within which Smale's activism was prominent. The last few chapters seemed to be a few chapters thrown together to cover topics that were left out earlier.The fact that I had such a mixed view of the book is probably not due to the author's writing ability but more to Smale's unusual character - very few mathematicians are known for their brilliance as well as for their active commitment to social issues.

A marvelous book
This book not only provides a useful description of some of the theory at a level technical enough to be satisfying, but also gives a fascinating view into the life and thinking of a Field's Medal winner (1966).Who would have guessed that the future Field's Medal Winner received a C in Calculus II and Physics and that he had a B- average Jr. year at the University of Michigan?And perhaps particularly heartening to those who have been through the graduate school experience, that he was less favored than Munkries and received an ultimatum from the chairman to improve (and that in graduate school, according to Raul Bott, Smale sat in the back and it wasn't clear he was always paying attention). But, of course, Smale more than redeems himself resulting in a storied career and a reputation that surpasses the boundaries of his specialties.This is a marvelous book. ... Read more

Product Description
Women Becoming Mathematicians looks at the lives and careers of thirty-six of the approximately two hundred women who earned Ph.D.s in mathematics from American institutions from 1940 to 1959. During this period, American mathematical research enjoyed an unprecedented expansion, fueled by the technological successes of World War II and the postwar boom in federal funding for education in the basic sciences. Yet women's share of doctorates earned in mathematics in the United States reached an all-time low. This book explores the complex interplay between the personal and professional lives of those women who embarked on mathematical careers during this period, with a view to understanding how changes in American society during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s affected their career development and identities as mathematicians.The book is based on extensive interviews with thirty-six women mathematicians of the postwar generation, as well as primary and secondary historical and sociological research. Taking a life-course approach, the book examines the development of mathematical identity across the life span, from childhood through adulthood and into retirement. It focuses on the process by which women who are actively involved in the mathematical community come to "know themselves" as mathematicians. The women's stories are instructive precisely because they do not conform to a set pattern; compelled to improvise, the women mathematicians of the 1940s and 1950s followed diverse paths in their struggle to construct a professional identity in postwar America. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

No limit to women's success in math
The reason I ordered this book was because my mother's cousin, Kenneth Wolfson, is mentioned in it several times.His support of his female students is well known and remembered by all who knew him.The book itself encourages me to pursue my own degree in mathematics.I owe my future career to my cousin and all of the women in this book.Thank you for being strong and proving to the academic world that women have a place in mathematics.

a good book
I first saw this book in the UT Math Library. I sat down and didn't stop reading it for 45 minutes (too bad I had class). It's really interesting and a quick read. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A very good reference book, but not a reading book or textbook
This book is everything the Booklist review states: excellent selection of individuals, a number of appendicies that provide valuable cross-tabulation information, and the most thorough time-line of mathematics I have seen (35 pages).It is a respectable reference book for students and the general public with reading skills of grade 9 or higher.The mathematics content is accessible to persons with intermediate algebra or higher.

The unfortunate drawback of this book is that the biographies are in alphabetical order.The publishing company missed a valuable opportunity: if instead published in order of mathematical developments (semi-chronological) with some bridging material, the book could be both an "armchair" reading book for the general public and a textbook for courses in liberal arts mathematics, mathematics history, etc.Given the excellent cross-tabulations in the appendices, an electronic edition would also be highly valuable.

A minor issue with the book is that the biographies have been slightly sanitized so as to be palatable with high school libraries in the U.S.At the same time, the authors struck a balance by being very forthcoming about the lives and fates of persons.For example, the entry on Pythagorous is excellent for a high-school reference book.

This book can be found in public libraries throughout the U.S. and at many high-school and college libraries as well.

Other books to consider:

Victor Katz has published A History of Mathematics: An Introduction (2nd Edition) which is suitable for an upper-division mathematics-major course in math history.Highly recommended to teachers and students researching the development of mathematics.

Tobias Dantzig's Number: The Language of Science which would be better subtitled "the vocabulary of measurement", is accessible to any successful college sophomore.It gives a somewhat chronological account of the human development of number concepts.Highly recommended to anyone interested in number concepts.
... Read more

Product Description
Provides an introduction to the life and biography of Benjamin Banneker, the African American astronomer and mathematician who helped survey Washington, D.C., and who wrote several successful almanacs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great for Kids School Project Research
This book was a straightforward resource and just what we needed for a Marvelous Mathemetician Report!!Both my 3rd and 5th graders agree it was easy to read and had very accessible information!! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A collection of explanations and inspirations
Mathematicians may be extraordinary thinkers, but they occasionally have something inspirational or profound to say as well, and many of those sayings have been collected in this book. It is clear that the author considers this a labor of love, as the amount of research that had to be done to put this book together must have been very substantial. The quotes are organized into categories such as "the creative process in mathematics", "mathematics and the arts", "about mathematicians", "anecdotes and humor" and "mathematics education." This makes it much easier to find a quote where the point coincides with the one you want to make.
If there was ever a mathematics book designed for browsing, it is this one. Find a copy and spend some time looking through it. It is an effort well spent. ... Read more

Product Description
Stories in Volume One focus on moments of mathematical discovery experienced by Thales, Pythagoras, Hypatia, Galileo, Pascal, Germain, and still others.Volume Two dramatizes the lives of Omar Khayyam, Albert Einstein, Ada Lovelace, and others.15 illustrated vignettes per book introduce students to great mathematicians from various cultures.Grades 3-7 Volume Two ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Fabulous!
Excellent book--be sure to get both volumes.Only wish I would have known about these a long time ago!The different chapters (one per person) make fabulous, quick read alouds that hold my almost-eight-year-old's attention beautifully, but keep me interested as well!Great mix of people from all over the world, both men and women.

Very interesting stories, well-written
I got this for my 8-yr-old son, but ended up reading it myself.I think I will read them with him, as some of the concepts may be over his head.It is still interesting for the stories alone, I'd just like him to really get some math education out of it.Not difficult to grasp for older children who are already introduced to algebra, geometry, etc.

This isn't the type of book you'll want to read all at once.Each story about an individual has different lessons, different concepts, that you'll want to discuss after reading.Great for home-schoolers or parents wanting to enrich their child's education.

Very happy with the book, now I've got to get Volume 1.

Great for adults and children
This is a great book for adults and children.My seven year old has me reading a chapter each night to her.The book illustrates the qualities required to be a great mathematician and has many interesting stories about them.My only wish is there were more chapters and mathematicians.

FANTASTIC!
A wonderful collection of short stories about mathematicians from many different time periods, including Pythagoras, Hypatia, Isaac Newton and 12 others.Makes great family reading, as the book is aimed probably for 9-12year olds, but is definitely interesting on an adult level, too.Great forstimulating interest in mathematics, history and philosophy. ... Read more

Product Description
Compilation of fifty biographies of mathematicians from throughout history and approximately thirty-five articles describing math concepts and principles. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

nice collection, but there's a mistake in the math
I saw this at my library and thought seriously about buying it for my kids.I even learned a few new things - I never knew Lewis Carroll was a mathematician!But I found an math error in the entry on fractions, specifically the part about equivalent fractions.It says

"4/6 becomes 2/3 when divided by 2...
16/36 [divided by] 2 = 8/18,
8/18 [divided by] 2 = 4/9".

Although I understand his intent, the presentation is incorrect.You cannot divide a number by 2 and end up with an equivalent number, unless that number is zero.The multiplicative identity holds that the ONLY number we can multiply or divide by, and end up with an equivalent number, is 1.I believe he meant to say:

"4/6 becomes 2/3 when the numerator and denominator are both divided by 2..."
This is the same as multiplying by (1/2)/(1/2).Because the numerator and denominator are the same, it is equivalent to 1, but it is written in a form that allows you to divide the numerator and denominator of 4/6 by the same amount, which leads to the equivalent 2/3.

I'm curious if this was ever corrected in an updated publishing of the book.

A simpler approach to this problem would be to factor the numerator and denominator, then cancel the common factors.This approach also uses the multiplicative identity, when the same amount is canceled from both the numerator and denominator. ... Read more

Product Description
A biography of the eighteenth-century African-American who taught himself mathematics and astronomy and helped survey what would become Washington, D.C. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

What an inspiring story!
Banneker is such a great role model for middle-schoolers!And Ms. Litwin has done a superb job of recreating life in his time.Any young person, but especially an African-American, will be thrilled by this fine andhistorically accurate biography of a self-taught free black man who helpedcreate our nation's capital and who corresponded with Thomas Jeffersonabout slavery.

A Must Read WIth Tons Of Great Info!
Are you interested in a great bioagraphy on a phenomenal free African American? Well, then this book is for you. It is worded simple enough to really understand and challenging enough to keep you interested. With greatpictures, this non-fiction is a must read for informationalpurposes(reports, etc.) and for pleasure! ... Read more

Amazon.com Review
As of late 1996, this is the most readily available collectionof writings of Charles Babbage, the discoverer of the principles onwhich all modern computing machines are based. Includes passages fromhis autobiography, and more technical writings about his"Difference Engine" (the subject of a great science fictionnovel by Bruce Sterling), an essay on lockpicking (proving that the MIThackers of the 1950s were not the precedent-setters they might think!), and evenuniquely 19th-century passages such as a descrition of how hetransported six blind salamanders while travelling around Europe. Anessential volume for anyone seriously interested in the history of thecomputer. ... Read more

Product Description
Fascinating accounts of the lives and accomplishments of history’s greatest mathematical minds--from Pythagoras to Georg Cantor. Charming anecdotes about Descartes, Euler, Pascal, many more, as well as accessible discussions of their contributions to mathematical thought. 30 diagrams. Bibliography.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Not what I expected.
I dontated this book.Hopefully someone will like it but I didn't.It is boring.

Good Historical Reference
This happened to be just what I was looking for:info on some of the more prominent mathematicians in history, in a short readable format.Not written as a necessarily easy, novel-like read, but definitely worth adding to my library.

One of the Best Books I've Ever Read
I am a high school math teacher and picked this book out of one of my cupboards for some lame "read during school" promotion (It's not like they ever have "do math during school" promotions...).I found the book difficult to put down.The book is filled with intriguing information at several levels; the math, the biographies, the drama, etc.Terrific book.

A really awesome book.
I've read Of Men and Numbers twice and have enjoyed the book immensely. It's so interesting and sometimes funny, and Jane Muir paints a great picture of the twelve most famous mathematicians that ever lived. Many mathematics books can be technical when presenting a story, but not in Of Men and Numbers. The writing is so simple that Jane Muir made the book extremely accessible for anyone and even for the kids. There are legends associated with many of the famous mathematicians, and they are all contained in this book. Before I read Of Men and Numbers for the first time, I had no idea of the men, only just their names associated with special numbers, proofs, etc., and afterwards, I felt my knowledge enriched by the colorful sketch of each man's biography. Of course, as I use the word "men," there is no biography of a female mathematician because the title Of Men and Numbers implies its omission. All in all, I greatly recommend Of Men and Numbers to anyone regardless of her/his interest in mathematics.

E. T. Bell clone - shares his regrettable style
It is a pity that Jane Muir seems to have modeled her book on "Men of Mathematics" by E. T. Bell.Like him, she "embellishes" her biographies to the point of sacrificing historical accuracy.Unfortunately (from my point of view) she also shares some of Bell's anti-Christian sentiments.For example, in the section on Blaise Pascal, she portrays Pascal as a mentally ill religious lunatic.Naturally, in the section on Evariste Galois, the great mathematician Cauchy is made out to be a fool and a bigoted religious fanatic while Galois (a very unstable, self-destructive character if there ever was one) is made out to be the martyred hero! ... Read more

Product Description
The life of Vito Volterra, one of the finest scientists and mathematicians Italy ever produced, spans the period from the unification of the Italian peninsula in 1860 to the onset of the Second World War--an era of unparalleled progress and unprecedented turmoil in the history of Europe. Born into an Italian Jewish family in the year of the liberation of Italy's Jewish ghettos, Volterra was barely in his twenties when he made his name as a mathematician and took his place as a leading light in Italy's modern scientific renaissance. By his early forties, he was a world-renowned mathematician, a sought-after figure in European intellectual and social circles, the undisputed head of Italy's mathematics and physics school--and still living with his mother, who decided the time was ripe to arrange his marriage. When Italy entered World War I in 1915, the fifty-five-year-old Volterra served with distinction and verve as a lieutenant and did not put on civilian clothes again until the Armistice of 1918. By 1925, he was president of the world's oldest scientific society, the Accademia dei Lincei, the founder and president of Italy's National Research Council, a mentor to the brilliant and restless Enrico Fermi, and "Mr. Italian Science" to the rest of the world. But none of this was enough to keep the government of Benito Mussolini from stripping him of all his honors and affiliations in 1931, when he was one of only twelve professors in the entire country to refuse to sign an oath of loyalty to the Fascist regime. This book, based in part on unpublished personal letters and interviews, traces the extraordinary life and times of one of Europe's foremost scientists and mathematicians, from his teenage struggles to avoid the stifling life of a "respectable" bank clerk in Florence, to his seminal mathematical work--which today influences fields as diverse as economics, physics, and ecology--and from his spirited support of Italy's scientific and democratic institutions during ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Volterra di vivero.
I have just reluctantly completed my second reading of "The Volterra Chronicles".The first time I was pleased to follow the scientific information and see the historical framework revealed.This second time, I read purely for enjoyment and the amazing feeling of being in that time/place while still observing it through a present day lens. Judith R. Goodstein has accomplished an awesome feat of authorship. Thesensibilities of today, and her focusing of our hindsight, inform our view of the personal and professional choices of Volterra.At the same time the reader is made aware of his, and his accomplished countrymen, interaction with the real constraints of their society. The strength of his intellect and, most vividly, his character emerge indelibly.Truly - Volterra lives.

Life of a great mathematician
Vito Volterra, one of the finest scientists and mathematicians Italy ever produced, is best known for his theory of functionals, which led to his later contributions in integral and integro-differential equations; for his interest in solid state physics, astronomy and mathematical biology, whose importance he was among the first to stress. In Goodstein's words "Volterra's life exemplifies the post-unification rise of Italian mathematics, its prominence in the first quarter of the twentieth century, and its precipitous decline under Mussolini... The meteoric rise and tragic fall of Volterra and his circle thus constitutes a lens through which we may examine in intimate detail the fortunes of Italian science in an epic scientific age".
Born in Ancona, into a rather poor Jewish family in the year of the liberation of Italy's Jewish ghettos, Volterra showed very early promise in mathematics. He attended the University of Pisa, where he graduated in physics and where he became professor of rational mechanics in 1883. Ten years later he moved to Turin and in 1900 to Rome, where he taught mathematical physics at the University "La Sapienza". Volterra, an enthusiastic patriot, in 1905 was elected a senator of the Kingdom of Italy on grounds of high scientific standing. In his 1907 talk for the inauguration of the first congress of the Italian Society for the Progress of the Sciences, Volterra proudly drew a comparison between his era and the Renaissance: "In that time of the wonderful restoration of intellectual life, Italy became the very center of universal scientific thought. Today, I venture to wish that the destiny reserved for us not be a lesser one, as the pure and authentic Italian soul rises and takes shape, reviving our thought and restoring to us our ancient country". During World War I, already well into his 50s, he joined the Italian Army and worked on the development of airships. His hopes for Italian science were soon to be betrayed. When Benito Mussolini took power, Volterra joined the opposition to Fascism, and in 1931 he was one of the twelve university professors (over more than a thousand) who refused to take a mandatory oath of loyalty. He was compelled to resign his university post and membership of scientific academies in Italy (he belonged to quite a number of them all over the world), and, during the following years, he lived largely abroad.
This very elegant book, based in part on unpublished private letters and documents, interviews, and personal contacts of the author with members of the scientist's family during her frequent stays in Italy, tells the quite unique life of an extraordinary person in a country and in an age characterized by dramatic events. Judith Goodstein traces a full-size portrait of the man, both in his private and public life. All around him, she draws a vivid picture of the very strong and somewhat suffocating ties within the Volterra family; of the very high quality of the gifted group of mathematicians who interacted with Volterra; of the intriguing happenings in the Italian academic community; of the dramatic conditions of intellectuals in a country that was gradually sinking from a freshly built democracy into a coarse Fascist regime. There are also flavorful glimpses on the scientific communities abroad, in Europe as well as and in North and South America. When in the USA, Volterra lectured in French, though admitting "that at the present time the most indispensable language seems to be English".
It would be hard to provide highlights of the story, so many are the facts, the ideas, the emotions, the surprises the reader will meet along this beautifully depicted historical journey. The book will be of interest not only to scientists, but also to historians and to other learned people: it can be read like a novel, where attention paid to meaningful details and little known episodes conveys a realistic picture of the life of Italians in those years - and of the Jewish community in particular - better than many academic historical essays would.
Bravo Goodstein: elegance, style, thorough insight... the reader will feel that she herself was a witness on the scene.

Andrea Frova
(Professor of Physics, Università "La Sapienza", Roma)
and Mariapiera Marenzana
(Professor of History and Italian Literature)

A Master Mathematician
Amust-read foryour specialreading list this summer is The Volterra Chronicles by Judith Goodstein. This book gives a very well-written and detailedaccount of a renowned Jewish Italian mathematician, Vito Volterra, and his rise to fame during a very turbulentperiod inItalian history (1860-1940). For thosenot familiar with Vito Volterra and his scientific and mathematicalwork, Dr. Goodstein offers bothan exciting and captivating biographyof a great and noble mathematician.

Good Read
This book was very enjoyable to read. I recommend it to anyone who would like to learn more about the academic life in Italy during these very interesting times. The portrait of the customs of an Italian Jewish family, to which Volterra belonged, is particularly well drawn.

The Rise and Fall of Italian Mathematics & Science 1960-1940
The Volterra Chronicles: The Life and Times of an Extraordinary Mathematician 1860-1940

Vito Volterra, one of the great Italian scientists and mathematicians, lived during tumultuous times spanning the years of the Italian unification to the outbreak of the Second World War.He was born into a middle class Jewish family His early years were spent in the Jewish ghetto of Ancona under the eyes of his protective mother who tried to discourage him from a career in mathematics.At twenty-three he became a tenured professor at Pisa and by 1900 he was appointed professor at the University of Rome.

Goodstein has constructed a detailed record of Volterra's personal life by gaining access to the Volterra family's letters and photographs.She provides rich insights into the Italian scientific and mathematical achievements and vividly records the Italian academic world and the response to the national political scene.

This biography is a powerful tribute to a man who dominated the field of mathematics. He developed the areas of integral and differential equations, worked in the field of elastic media and then branched into the area of theoretical ecology and began to apply his mathematical expertise to biological systems.

The ascendancy of Fascism brought the golden age of science and mathematics in Italy to an end.It is interesting that there was a disproportionately large number of Jews within Italian science and mathematics.Mussolini's regime was actively anti-Semitic and barred Jewish scientists and mathematicians from holding university posts and membership in scientific organizations.

In 1931 Vito Volterra was one of only twelve Italian university professors who refused to sign the oath of allegiance to the Fascist government required by all members of the faculty, which resulted in his expulsion from the scientific community. Volterra's life parallels the rise and decline of Italian mathematics and science and provides us with a lens to examine the fortunes of Italian science during this time period. ... Read more

Product Description
Paulos offers a hilarious account of how the stock market both follows and defies mathematical principals. He offers an engaging overview of everything from 'betas' to the efficient market hypothesis. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Author reviews spectrum of equities analysis without any first hand experience
Having invested heavily in a single stock - WorldComm - Paulos laments his financial loss, and embarks to write a book where he takes the reader through a spectrum of equities analysis methodologies, and disproves their apparent success as attributes of illusions and perceptions. Through the use of thought experiments, he attempts to re-wire the readers to comprehend the true nature of randomness, which is more ordered than most people's expectations. The good stuff aside, I am very disappointed with the book for two reasons. Firstly, the publisher's marketing of the book is highly misleading. It hints that the author used his professional skills as a mathematician to beat the market. As such I bought the book hoping to understand why the author failed, and hope to avoid his pitfalls. Instead, the author did not have any first hand experience with any of the techniques discussed. He simply did not apply any mathematical methods, or any method for that matter, during his compulsive purchase of WorldComm shares. So anyone hoping for case studies would be let down. Secondly, Paulos' arguments are not all that convincing. While he successfully presents an alternative hypothesis based on the incorrect human perceptions of probability, he makes no attempts to disprove established theories. All he has achieved is simply to offer another explanation. The section on technical analysis is particularly poor, as his arguments were rather superficial, and amounted to simply saying technical analysts have not provided convincing prove - he does not feel he needs to go any further. What is confusing to me, is that he rejects technical analysis despite giving a marvellous introduction, and goes on to explain how and why technical patterns form, as well as admitting throughout the book that the psychology of the market is what moves prices - one of several core principles of technical analysis. Having said all that, "A Mathematician Plays the Market" is an eye-opener in lateral thinking for the non-mathematically inclined, and is a recommended read for financial novices. Professionals in either fields can give this book a miss. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A fascinating biography of a great scientist
The biography is written brilliantly and is quite fascinating. The 98-year long life of Hadamard was extraordinary, filled with fantastic joys, like playing the violin with Albert Einstein, and terrible hardships, as losinghis three sons in the two World Wars. He was a man of amazing activity andgreat social commitment, being involved in the struggle for human rights.In his lifetime, the world was a scene of tremendous perturbations andchanges in all respects, and so also in the area of science, where Hadamardwas a great driving force especially in mathematics, but also in physics,mechanics, psycology of invention etc. Little did he realise during hiscareer that his matrices later would be used in the coding theory oftoday.

The chapters about Hadamard's work in mathematical physicscontains a lot of untraditional, interesting and almost unknown material.It is hard to find elsewhere such a complete and clearly written survey ofthe history ofthe disproval of several "obvious" hypotheses.

The textis tastefully mixed with illustrations and the occasional anecdote makes ita quite entertaining read. I can higly recommend it to anybody, fromundergraduate students to high-level professionals. ... Read more

Product Description
Part of a four-volume set which presents the mathematician's collected works. This volume contains personal recollections and mathematical commentaries by Bott's students and colleagues, as well as two autobiographical sketches, depicting his childhood and his early years as a mathematician. ... Read more