Customer Reviews (6)

A Gem in Modern Math
It is a shame that I found this book 30 years too late. Though written in 1970, this book is still by far the best Modern Math book in both historical and technical details. I bought it at a local second-hand bookshop 1 week ago, and I have not stopped reading the thick 760-page book since then.

The book has 30 chapters, but one can read any chapter in silo. I found fresh ideas and in-depth explanations on Galois Group & Theory of equations, Felix Klein's Geometry, Emile Noether's Ideal in Rings... nowhere I could find such lucid explanations.

As the Author said in Preface, any man on the street deserves to know what Modern Math is about and how it affects our life and our universe. Modern Math should not be kept in the ivory tower of the universities, be the privileged treasure of the mathematians. It belongs to the enthusiates, the curious students & the engineers who, by far, ignorant of this fascinating "New" Math which dates since 4,000 years ago.

A great history book!
Edna Kramer's is perhaps the best of the genre of books on the History of Mathematics.

The most pleasing feature about this book is that it is a fine balance between the mathematical ideas and the lives of the mathematicians. Best of all, it paints a sympathetic history of the times in which the discoveries were made. The use of anecdotes and "little" events in the lives of the men and women really brings to life both the subjects and their work.

Although my particular favourite sections are on the achievements of Euler, Gauss, Lagrange, d'Alambert, Ricci, Levi Civita, and Riemann, the book is truly an expansive landscape - there is coverage of virtually all the greats from the 16th century onwards. There are numerous examples from which to learn the basics of the mathematics. For instance, the sections on the history of the calculus are interwoven with simple, yet lucid examples. Equally, the more complex ideas like integral equations and partial differential equations are illustrated by examples drawn from the physical world.

All this makes the book worthwhile - it DOES NOT skirt over the Mathematics, but rather, makes an active attempt at imparting knowledge and understanding. This makes the book ideal for both the Maths specialist who is interested in history and for the generalist seeking a broad understanding without being daunted by the Maths. Kramer has done a marvellous job in meeting this tough challenge.

If this book has one failing, it is the way it skims over mathematical contributions from non-western societies, but it balances this somewhat by not overplaying the "Greek card". Some books do go on about Euclid as if he was the Newton of the ancients! Having said this, it can be excused since the book is quite old and much new knowledge has been gained on contributions from India and China in the last couple of decades. The interested reader may also wish to look up George Joseph's book, "The flight of the Peacock" for this.

An ideal book for both history and mathematics. I have had my copy for 20 years and it keeps my interest, still. Thoroughly recommended!

Thirty Years and Still the Best
I first read "The Nature and Growth of Modern Mathematics" in1970 as an engineering student with minors in math and physics. This book,over the course of a summer, provided me with the history of mathematicaldevelopment at the same time leaving me with the elementals of math areasin which I had not submerged myself. The effect was a tremendous weavingtogether of mathematical knowledge - both the rudiments of theory andsimple examples of applications - which has served me well in the decadessince.

There is a great deal of power in the present era from being ableto recognize the appropriate techniques from a more wide knowledge base, attimes, yes, to synthesize two or more techniques to solve a potent problemor develop an application. Edna Kramers book gave me a great deal, and itis written in a way that could assist people in all occupations and withall interests.

It is a fascinating and at times awe inspring overview ofmath.

The best of the Math History books
Edna Kramer's book has 30 chapters.Each one starts with an odd bit of history.Then Edna explains the critical impact this nugget had.After that, she does an excellent write up of the mathematics involved, completewith formulas and proofs.Each chapter is then rounded out with morefacts, more history, and more math. Every chapter is superbly structured. I would recommend this book for anyone who enjoys mathematics.

Excellent text for those interested in advanced mathematics
This book gives a detailed view of the who and why in the world of mathematics.Included are the actual concepts and proofs on a simplified level.I have taken advanced courses in math but only after I read thisbook did I understand the reasons for the way mathematics developed and theway mathematicians answered their critics, which is never covered in formalcollege cources.Highly recomended, easy to read. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of Edna Ernestine Kramer-Lassar, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thomson Gale. The length of the entry is 483 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Product Description
Volume 2: Includes Chapters 16 through 30 ... Read more

Product Description
biographical and background material so that the reader can understand the crosscurrents of mathematical research ... Read more