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For both community and college library collections dedicated to the history of mathematics and extraordinary women
Throughout history, women have advanced and broken many barriers in different fields. "A Biography of Maria Gaetana Agnesi: An Eighteenth-Century Woman Mathematician" is a look at the life of a major contributor to the field of math in a time where women were still viewed as vastly inferior to men in intellectual fields. Agnesi spited this claim and did much work on the field, and slowly earned some degree of respect from history for her work. Containing not only a biography, but a translation of some of her more essential work from the original Italian into English, Cupillari does much to demonstrate the vital purpose of Agnesi's contribution. With thirteen black and white photographs of the documents of her time, indexes, and explanations of her work, "A Biography of Maria Gaetana Agnesi" is an enthusiastically recommended piece for both community and college library collections dedicated to the history of mathematics and extraordinary women.
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This is the true story of a little girl, Caryn Navy, who, after she became blind at age 10, began to find mathematics fascinating. An independent girl, she learned to travel the subways of New York by herself, trained with a seeing-eye dog, went to college in another state, and earned a Ph.D. in mathematics and computer science. Caryn married an electrical engineer and together they started their own successful computer company. ... Read more

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Excellent biography for visually impaired students to read!
I work with visually impaired students & this book is the best way to show that anyone with a visual impairment can be successful.I purchased it so I can braille it.Thank you! ... Read more

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Ioan James introduces and profiles sixty mathematicians from the era when mathematics was freed from its classical origins to develop into its modern form. The subjects, all born between 1700 and 1910, come from a wide range of countries, and all made important contributions to mathematics, through their ideas, their teaching, and their influence. James emphasizes their varied life stories, not the details of their mathematical achievements. The book is organized chronologically into ten chapters, each of which contains biographical sketches of six mathematicians. The men and women James has chosen to portray are representative of the history of mathematics, such that their stories, when read in sequence, convey in human terms something of the way in which mathematics developed.Ioan James is a professor at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford.He is the author of Topological Topics (Cambridge, 1983), Fibrewise Topology (Cambridge, 1989), Introduction to Uniform Spaces (Cambridge, 1990), Topological and Uniform Spaces (Springer-Verlag New York, 1999), and co-author with Michael C. Crabb of Fibrewise Homotopy Theory (Springer-Verlag New York, 1998). James is the former editor of the London Mathematical Society Lecture Note Series and volume editor of numerous books. He is the organizer of the Oxford Series of Topology symposia and other conferences, and co-chairman of the Task Force for Mathematical Sciences of Campaign for Oxford. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

it's just ok
I read this book a few months ago. I thought it got kind of stale by the end, they way the author presents the information is fine, but I think that after a while the biographies start to run together. The mathematicians start to fall in similar types, like the mathematician who was famous and didn't have many problems who overshadowed a brilliant mathematician who fell into obscurity. You do learn a lot of information about the mathematicians themselves, but I think that the book could have been better with less mathematicians, or more important famous ones (extend the time frame).

Good book
This book is a collection of short biographies of notable mathematicians from Euler to von Neumann.It does a good job of explaining both a mathematicians background and the significance of their contributions to mathematics.Great to read through or as a reference to have on the shelf.

Very good historical account of lives
The only reason that this book doesn't get 5 stars is because of the fact that not enough emphasis is placed on the achievements of the mathematicians in terms of their mathematics.

However, this does not take away from the fact that is is exteremely well researched, laid out and presented. We get a meaningful insight into how these geniuses (genii?) lived and that fact that they were quite ordinary people with the same levels of hardship (and in some cases even more) as the rest of us. Perhaps an improvement could be made on further mathematicians, both past and present.

Still recommended reading.

Learn how mathematicians interacted with each other
When reading about the great ones of mathematics, I always enjoy short biographies rather than long ones. If the biographer is required to fill a large section of a book, then they tend to cover more detail than I really care for. While I do enjoy some details about the personal life of a mathematician, anything more than just a few morsels tends to detract from their accomplishments in mathematics.
James strikes the perfect balance in describing the lives of these great historical figures. Each biographical sketch is less than ten pages and he covers their life from birth to death. One valuable thing that he does is give their complete names, which is often omitted from biographies. In fact, despite all of my reading about the people of mathematics, there were some whose full names I had not known until I read this book.
The emphasis is on the lives of the people, and the general concepts of the mathematics that they created, rather than the specifics. No formulas are used in the explanations. Personal and professional interactions are a large part of the life of nearly all mathematicians, and from these biographies, we learn many of the specifics of how contemporaries reacted to each other. As is always the case, the full range of human foibles are displayed as the lives of the mathematicians unfold.
The lives of these sixty mathematicians are described in chronological order according to their birth years. Given that they all began their mathematically productive lives at different ages, this leads to some degree of overlap in both directions. Nevertheless, it is possible to easily trace the development of the major mathematical ideas as they are nurtured from early germs to towering oaks.
Mathematicians are people who find themselves in a social and political environment that they must cope with and sometimes just survive in. In this book, you will learn about sixty of them who made a major contribution, sometimes starting from a point of privilege, and other times only after great struggle. It is well worth reading for pleasure and can also be used as a resource for a course in mathematical history.

Published in the recreational mathematics e-mail newsletter, reprinted with permission.

Captivating!
Don't miss these captivating tales of the life and the times of mathematicians starting from the period of Tsar Peter the Great of Russia, and right up to recent times, at least up to and including the Cold War. Even if you aren't in math, I think you are likely to be caught up in the drama of the various lives, times, and events. The writing is fast paced and engaging, much like that of Constance Reid's books: "Hilbert", or "Courant"... Over the tumultous historical periods, it has been said that mathematicians have been more likely than others to have been uprooted in the upheavals of history, perhaps because they are concerned with theories and ideas that are more universal. But their lives are still much affected by the times and the events of history: The French Revolution(Galois, Poisson, Fourier...), the Napolionic Wars(Cauchy, Abel...), the period of Bismarck and Nationalism in Europe(Weierstrass, Cantor, Lie...), the Russian Revolution(Alexander, Kolmogorov...), the two World Wars, and the crisis period between WWI and WWII(Banach, Hadamard, Courant, Hilbert...), and the Cold War(von Neumann, Wiener...). The pictures on the cover give you a sample of the profiles in the book: G. Polya, K. Weierstrass, A. N. Kolmogorov, N. Wiener, S. Kovalevskaya, and S.-D. Poisson. Even if you won't get to meet them in person (I was a guest at George Polya's ninetieth birthday!), this book is the next best thing. ... Read more

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This volume includes topics such as: invariants of strongly pseudoconvex CR manifolds; the integral formulas of the Pontrjagin characteristic forms on an oriented differentiable manifold; the construction of tensor fields and connections on the frame bundle; and cellular manufacturing systems. ... Read more

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This little encyclopaedia contains entries detailing the lives and works of 157 people, from Thales and Euclid in antiquity to Sir Isaac Newton and Dr Nicholas Saunderson in the author's, Benjamin Martin's, own century. It gives a window on the mid 18th-century status of important thinkers. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

Mixed feelings
I read with much interest this book, but it fails to explain the situation of the mathematicians in Nazi Germany. It draws a very sharp line between who was able to escape Germany and who wasn't or had some reasons to stay. An historian must not collect facts, but explain them. In this book there are many names, but no one is described deeply. Bernstein is split up in many little excerpts in text. Goedel is considered an emigree from Germany (false). Goedel showed no interest in the policy of his time (see Dawson, for example). Moreover 1933 is not an isolated point but the result of 14 years of despair in the Weimar Republik. I think to go deeply in this subject with an appropriate review (see my site: www.davidebondoni.eu).

Eye-opening
This is an important work and makes clear yet more aspects of the impact of the Holocaust on the course of modern history.It may be a bit hard to follow for people to whom the names of prominent 20th Century mathematicians are not well-known, but it shows how the Nazis changed the course of scientific history by scattering and murdering so many in one important discipline.

Interesting but pedantic
When the author begins by saying "We need to define what a mathematician is", you know you are in for a slog. The book consists of case studies, which are quite varied. No clear gestalt emerges from the individual situations or even if one is possible. ... Read more

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In the tradition of the first volume of Mathematical People comes another collection of interviews and profiles with some of the most prestigious mathematicians of our time. The chapters tell in the mathematicians own words how they became interested in mathematics, how they chose their specialty, and about their hobbies and personal lives. Each interview has its own colorful character and is full of photographs so personal and lively that they add a new dimension to the readers perception.

Easy-to-read interview format
Information about academic and personal lives of mathematicians
Hundreds of photographs
Features key mathematicians of the twentieth century ... Read more

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Eminent mathematician Ioan James celebrates the extraordinary contribution made by Jewish people in mathematics and physics, from Norbert Wiener to Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein. He tells the life stories of thirty-five men and women, born in the nineteenth century, who were at the forefront of research in their fields.

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Sophus Lie (1842-1899) is one of Norways greatest scientific talents. His mathematical works have made him famous around the world no less than Niels Henrik Abel. The terms "Lie groups" and "Lie algebra" are part of the standard mathematical vocabulary. In his comprehensive biography the author Arild Stubhaug introduces us to both the person Sophus Lie and his time. We follow him through: childhood at the vicarage in Nordfjordeid; his youthful years in Moss; education in Christiania; travels in Europe; and learn about his contacts with the leading mathematicians of his time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Mathematical Reviews' reference
Stubhaug/Daly contribution is welcome indeed. Here is information for finding the other book that Mathematical Reviews review of Stubhaug/Daly calls a "definitive history of the mathematical theory" and like Stubhaug/Daly "(a blessing to) the study of the history of Lie groups":

Thomas Hawkins, "Emergence of The Theory of Lie Groups: An Essay in the History of Mathematics 1869-1926", ISBN 0-387-98963-3, Springer, 2000.

Hawkins' history has sections on the contributions of Sophus Lie, Wilhelm Killing, Elie Cartan, and Hermann Weyl. ... Read more

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Archimedes was one of the greatest mathematicians and inventors of the ancient world. His native city was Syracuse on the island of Sicily. When he was a young man, Archimedes was sent to study in Alexandria. There he met other brilliant mathematicians who became his friends. Even after they parted, they wrote to each other sending the problems and theorems they were working on. Back in Syracuse, King Hiero II asked him to use his mathematical genius to create practical solutions and inventions. The tools and weapons that Archimedes invented made him famous throughout the ancient world, and some such as levers and pulleys are still used today. ... Read more

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Isaac Newton was a scientific genius whose discoveries changed the way people thought about the world. He solved complex mathematical problems and invented the branch of mathematics called calculus. He investigated light and through experiments proved its relationship to color. And he established universal principles about how gravity, force, and motion work and are related. These principles became known as Newtons laws. Underneath Newtons public image as a genius was a man with real problems and failingsa complicated, sometimes unpleasant person whose interests and desires did not always match his legend. ... Read more

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Pythagoras
The book is an interesting rendition on a well-known topic to mathematicians and scientists. Pythagoras lived from 580 BC to 500 BC. The rendition covers math, the sciences, gods, planets and music. Pythagoras had sway
over the government of Croton-a small group of aristocrats. He was
persecuted in Italy. The followers spread out to Sicily and Greece.
Copernicus credited Pythagoras for the groundwork set forth in
modern Astronomy and musical ratios. The work is an excellent acquisition
for any student project in the arts or sciences.
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A companion to "Mathematical Apocrypha," (published in 2002)this second volume of anecdotes, stories, quips, and ruminations about mathematics and mathematicians is sure to please.It differs from other books of its type in that many of the stories are from the twentieth century and many about currently living mathematicians.A number of the best stories come from the author's first-hand experience.The writing is lively, engaging, and informative.There are stories the reader may wish to share with students and colleagues, friends, and relatives.The purpose of the book is to explore and to celebrate the many facets of mathematical life.The stories reveal mathematicians as intense, human, and sympathetic.They should resonate with readers everywhere.This book will appeal to students from high school through graduate school, to faculty and to mathematical scientists of all stripes, and also to physicists, engineer, and anyone interested in mathematics. ... Read more

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Plausible and entertaining stories about mathematicians as people
Mathematics is one of the oldest, perhaps even the oldest, areas of scholarly endeavor. While it provides the core of much of the functioning of human society, one area that is often neglected is the mythology of the discipline. In this book, his second about the unsubstantiated lore of mathematics, Steven Krantz demonstrates that while mathematicians are somewhat different than the rest of humanity, they are still human.
Mathematicians demonstrate arrogance, humility, insecurity, jealousy, pettiness, conceit, eccentricities, fear, insanity, incompetence and genius, just like all other people. However, some of these traits are more common and more pronounced in mathematicians than in other groups.
Krantz captures all of this in this set of stories about mathematicians as people, there is only a rare mention of actual mathematical formulas or principles. As the title implies, these stories are not necessarily true, although in most cases, only mathematical historians will be able to refute any of them. For they all possess the one trait that an apocryphal story must have, plausibility.
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This volume is about the life and work of Shiing-Shen Chern(1911-), one of the leading mathematicians of this century. The bookcontains personal accounts by some friends, together with a summary ofthe mathematical works by Chern himself. Besides a selection of themathematical papers the book also contains all his papers publishedafter 1988. ... Read more

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This volume features substantive biographical essays on 59 women from around the world who have made significant contributions to mathematics from antiquity to the present. Designed for secondary school students and the general public, each profile describes major life events, obstacles faced and overcome, educational and career milestones--including a discussion of mathematical research in non-technical terms--and interests outside of mathematics. Although the collection includes historical women, the emphasis is on contemporary mathematicians, many of whom have not been profiled in any previous work. Also included are the contributions of minority women, including 10 African-American, Latina, and Asian mathematicians. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Well worth reading!
This is a very good book, not only informative, but it kept me interestedwhere so many other books on the subjects of math or women mathematicianscould be real yawners.It includes lots of information, the biographiesare short and don't drag on, and books like this could be veryinspirational to young women interested in pursuing careers in math.Thebook introduces all sorts of women in math, most of whom I was not familiarwith before reading it.I highly recommend this book to anyone who wantsto know more about math-related careers, the growing importance of women inthe field, or is just looking for some good non-fiction to read.It'sworth it! ... Read more