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Journey through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics (Paperback) (Paperback)
by William Dunham
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Mathematics, Science |
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| MSL Pointer Review:
This book is an important read for a layman trying to get a better grasp on the actual historical building blocks of math. |
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Author: William Dunham
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Pub. in: August, 1991
ISBN: 014014739X
Pages: 320
Measurements: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00284
Other information: Rep edition
ISBN-13: 978-0140147391
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- MSL Picks -
In "Journey Through Genius," William Dunham has selected twelve of the most famous theorems from throughout the history of mathematics, starting in ancient Greece and proceeding to modern times. He devotes a chapter to each of these theorems. Each chapter begins with background information - about the mathematician who proved the theorem, the state of mathematics at the time, and any other pertinent mathematical information needed for understanding the proof of the theorem. He then proceeds to present a proof of the theorem, trying to follow closely the original proof, but also making sure to follow modern conventions for mathematical notation, and making sure to present the proof in a way that can easily be understood. Finally, he closes each chapter with additional information of interest regarding the particular theorem and/or mathematician, including other advances in mathematics that followed as a result of the theorem in question.
The overall result of putting together each of these individual chapters is that the book as a whole serves as an excellent introduction to mathematical history, with most of the important people and events in mathematical history discussed.
This book may not have a very wide appeal, but for someone who has always liked math, this is a very enjoyable book. It is very satisfying to follow the logic of each of the proofs, and you'll learn some things about mathematical history that you didn't know even after taking several college-level math classes. The author's intention is to get the reader to appreciate the aesthetic "beauty" of each of the proofs, rather than to present an intellectual challenge.
This book is strongly recommended for anyone with a strong interest in mathematics.
Target readers:
The readers interested in the Mathematics
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William Dunham, Koehler Professor of Mathematics at Muhlenberg College, is the author of Journey Through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics; The Mathematical Universe; and Euler: The Master of Us All. He is a recipient of the George Pólya Award and the Trevor Evans Award for expository writing from the Mathematical Association of America.
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There is a remarkable permanence about mathematical ideas. Whereas other scientific disciplines regularly discard the old and outmoded, in mathematics new results build upon their predecessors without rendering them obsolete. The astronomical theories and medical practices of the Alexandrian Greeks, works of undisputed genius in their day, have long since become archaic curios. Yet Euclid's proof of the Pythagorean theorem, set forth in 300 B.C., has lost none of its beauty or validity with the passage of time. A theorem, correctly proved within the rigors of logic, is a theorem forever. Journey Through Genius explores some of the most significant and enduring ideas in mathematics: the great theorems, discoveries of beauty and insight that stand today as monuments to the human intellect. Writing with extraordinary clarity, wit, and enthusiasm, Professor William Dunham takes us on a fascinating journey through the intricate reasoning of these masterworks and the often turbulent lives and times of their creators. Along with the essential mathematics, Professor Dunham uniquely captures the humanity of these great mathematicians. You'll meet Archimedes of Syracuse, who pushed mathematics to frontiers that would stand some 1,500 years. Unchallenged as the greatest mathematician of antiquity, Archimedes was the stereotypically "absent minded" mathematician, capable of forgetting to eat or bathe while at work on a problem. From the sixteenth century you'll encounter Gerolamo Cardano, whose mathematical accomplishments provide a fascinating counterpoint to his extraordinary misadventures. In the next century, there appeared the competitive, bickering Bernoulli brothers, who explored the arcane world of infinite series when not engaged in contentious wrangling with one another. And from more modern times you'll read of the paranoid genius of Georg Cantor, who had the ability and courage to make a frontal assault on that most challenging of mathematical ideas-the infinite. Journey Through Genius is a rare combination of the historical, biographical, and mathematical. Readers will find the history engaging and fast-paced, the mathematics presented in careful steps. Indeed, those who keep paper, pencil, and straightedge nearby will find themselves rewarded by a deeper understanding and appreciation of these powerful discoveries. Regardless of one's mathematical facility, all readers will come away from this exhilarating book with a keen sense of the majesty and power, the creativity and genius of these mathematical masterpieces.
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Kenneth (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-30 00:00>
William Dunham has brought life to a subject that almost everyone considers dull, boring and dead. Dunham investigates and explains, in easy-to-understand language and simple algebra, some of the most famous theorems of mathematics. But what sets this book apart is his descriptions of the mathemeticians themselves, and their lives. It becomes easier to understand their thinking process, and thus to understand their theorems.
I am a layman with a computer science degree, and a layman's understanding of mathematics, so I am no expert! But I loved this book.
I found Dunham's description of Archimedes' life and his reasoning for finding the area of a circle and volume of a cylinder to be (almost!) riveting.
Dunham's decription of Cantor and his reasoning regarding the cardinality of infinite sets was fascinating to me. But most of all, I loved his chapter on Leonhard Euler. Having in high school been fascinated by Euler's derivation of e^(i*PI) = -1, I was even more amazed at the scope of this man's genius, and Dunham's description of his life.
The chapter on Isaac Newton is an especially good one as well.
Dunham smartly weaves these important theorems of mathematics into the history of mathematics, making this book even more understandable, and, dare I say it, actually entertaining!
This book is a gem, and for anyone interested in mathematics, it is not to be missed.
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-30 00:00>
Dunham has done an excellent job of taking us through the history of mathematics providing a context with the civilization of the time. He shapes his production around what he considers to be the great theorems of mathematics. The order of presentation is chronological. Early on we see great admiration for Euclid and his "Elements" as two of Euclid's theorems appear on the list, a proof of the Pythagorean theorem and the proof that there are infinitely many primes. Euler and Cantor are also honored with two theorems included among the collection. However there is more to Dunham's presentation than just the proofs. We find other related results by these masters and other great mathematicians that were their contemporaries. He shows reverence for Newton. Gauss and Weierstrass and others are mentioned but none of their theorems are highlighted. It is not his intention to slight these great mathematicians. Rather, Dunham's criteria seems to be to present the theorems that have simple and elegant proofs but often surprising results. His coverage of Cantor is particularly good. It seems that he is most knowledgeable about Cantor's mathematics of transfinite numbers and the related axiomatic set theory.
For a detailed description of the chpaters in this work, look at the detailed review by Shard here at Amazon. I found this book well written and authoritative and learned a few things about Euler and number theory that I hadn't known from my undergraduate and graduate training in mathematics. Yet I did not give the book five stars.
There are a couple of omissions that I find reduce it to a four star rating. My main objection is the slighting of Evariste Galois. Galois was the great French mathematician who died in a duel at the early age of 21 in the year 1832. Yet, in his short life he developed a theory of abstract algebra seemingly unrelated to the great unsolved questions about constructions with straight edge and compass due to the Greeks and yet his theory resolved many of these questions. I was very impressed in graduate school when I learned the Galois theory and came to realize that problems such as a solution to the general 5th degree equation by radicals and the trisection of an arbitrary angle with straight edge and compass were impossible.
Now, Galois theory is certainly beyond the scope of this book but so is non-Euclidean geometry and aspects of number theory and set theory that Dunham chooses to mention. He spends a great deal of time on Euclid's work and the various possible constructions with straight edge and compass. Also, in the chapter on Cardano's proof of the general solution to the cubic, he also presents the solution to the quartic and refers to Abel's result on the impossibility of the general solution to the quintic equation. This would have been the perfect place to introduce Galois who independently and at the same time in history proved the impossibility of solving the general quintic equation by radicals. Oddly Galois is never once mentioned in the entire book.
In discussing number theory and Euler's contributions, the theorems and conjectures of Fermat are mentioned. This book was written in 1991 and it presents Fermat's last theorem as an unproven conjecture. Andrew Wiles presented a proof of Fermat's last theorem to the mathematical community in 1993 and after some needed patchwork to the proof, it is now agreed that Fermat's last theorem is true. There are a number of books written on Fermat's last theorem including an excellent book by Simon Singh. It seems that Dunham's book is popular and has been reprinted at least 10 times since the original printing in 1991. It would have been appropriate to modify the discussion of Fermat's last theorem in one of these reprintings.
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Shard (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-30 00:00>
Some books, such as Ball's and Beiler's seem to have sparked a life-long love of mathematics in practically everyone who reads them. "Journey Through Genius" should be another such book.
In the Preface, the author comments that it is common practice to teach appreciation for art through a study of the great masterpieces. Art history students study not only the great works, but also the lives of the great artists, and it is hard to imagine how one could learn the subject any other way. Why then do we neglect to teach the Great Theorems of mathematics, and the lives of their creators? Dunham sets out to do just this, and succeeds beyond all expectations.
Each chapter consists of a biography of the main character interwoven with an exposition of one of the Great Theorems. Also included are enough additional theorems and proofs to support each of the main topics so that Dunham essentially moves from the origins of mathematical proof to modern axiomatic set theory with no prerequisites. Admittedly it will help if the reader has taken a couple of high school algebra classes, but if not, it should not be a barrier to appreciating the book. Each chapter concludes with an epilogue that traces the evolution of the central ideas forward in time through the history of mathematics, placing each theorem in context.
The journey begins with Hippocrates of Chios who demonstrated how to construct a square with area equal to a particular curved shape called a Lune. This "Quadrature of the Lune" is believed to be the earliest proof in mathematics, and in Dunham's capable hands, we see it for the gem of mathematics that it is. The epilogue discusses the infamous problem of "squaring the circle", which mathematicians tried to solve for over 2000 years before Lindeman proved that it is impossible.
In chapters 2 and 3 we get a healthy dose of Euclid. Dunham briefly covers all 13 books of "The Elements", discussing the general contents and importance of each. He selects several propositions directly from Euclid and proves them in full using Euclid's arguments paraphrased in modern language. The diagrams are excellent, and very helpful in understanding the proofs. If you've ever tried to read Euclid in a direct translation, you should truly appreciate Dunham's exposition: the mathematics is at once elementary, intricate, and beautiful, but Dunham is vastly easier to read than Euclid. The Great Theorems of these chapters are Euclid's proof of the Pythagorean theorem and The Infinitude of Primes, which rests at the heart of modern number theory. Dunham obviously loves Euclid, and his enthusiasm is infectious. After reading this, it is easy to see why "The Elements" is the second most analyzed text in history (after The Bible).
Archimedes is the subject of chapter 4, and he was a true Greek Hero. Even if most of the stories of Archimedes' life are apocryphal, they still make very interesting reading. However the core of the chapter is the Great Theorem, Archimedes' Determination of Circular Area. His method anticipated the integral calculus by some 1800 years, and also introduced the world to the wonderful and ubiquitous number pi. The epilogue traces attempts to approximate pi all the way up to the incomparable Indian mathematician of the 20th century, Ramanujan.
Chapter 5 concerns Heron's formula for the area of a triangle. The proof is extremely convoluted and intricate, with a great surprise ending. It is well worth the effort to follow it through to the end. Chapter 6 is about Cardano's solution to the general cubic equation of algebra. Cardono is certainly one of the strangest characters in the history of mathematics, and Dunham does a great job telling the story. The epilogue discusses the problem of solving the general quintic or higher degree equation, and Neils Abel's shocking 1824 proof that such a solution is impossible.
Sir Isaac Newton is the topic of chapter 7. Rather than go into the calculus deeply, Dunham gives us Newton's Binomial Theorem, which he didn't really prove, but nevertheless showed how it could be put to great use in the Great Theorem of this chapter, namely the approximation of pi. Chapter 8 breezes through the Bernoulli brothers' proof that the Harmonic Series does not converge, with lots of very interesting historical biography thrown in for good measure.
Chapters 9 and 10 discuss the incredible genius of Leonard Euler, who contributed very significant results to virtually every field of mathematics, and seems to have been a decent human being to boot. Chapter 10, "A Sampler of Euler's Number Theory", is my favorite in the book. A large portion of his work in number theory came from proving (or disproving) propositions due to Fermat, which were passed on to him by his friend Goldbach. This chapter gives complete proofs of several of these wonderful theorems including Fermat's Little Theorem, all of which lead up to the gem of the chapter. Taken as a whole it is the kind of number theory detective work that has lured so many people into the field over the years. Chapter 10 is a mathematical tour de force.
The last 2 chapters handle Cantor's work in the "transfinite realm", and should certainly serve to expand the mind of any reader. By the time you finish, you'll have an idea about the twentieth century crisis in mathematics, and its resolution, and what sorts of concepts are capable of making modern mathematicians squirm in their seats. Dunham does a beautiful job of demonstrating Cantor's proof of the non-denumerability of the continuum. At this altitude of intellectual mountain-climbing the air is thin, but it is well worth the climb!
In brief, "Journey Through Genius" might almost be considered a genius work of mathematical exposition. I can think of few authors more capable of conveying the excitement and beauty of mathematics, as well as an appreciation for the sheer enormity of the achievements of the human mind and spirit.
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-30 00:00>
There is a reason all the reviewers for this book have given it 5 stars. It is simply a wonderful book.
This is the kind of book that would make almost anybody learn to love mathematics. Although I myself have always liked mathematics, I can heartily recommend this book to anybody with just a passing interest in the subject.
Some of the theorems that are discussed could be somewhat involved. However, those who are not interested in the details can skip them without compromising their enjoyment of the book. William Dunham seamlessly weaves a story of these wonderful mathematical geniuses, the times they lived in, their motivations and last but not least, their theorems. A great mathematical epic unfolds as you move from one era to another and from one genius to another. The author's love for the subject is obvious and a lot of it is bound to rub off on you too.
Recommended without reservations.
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