This eminently readable book focuses on the people of mathematics and draws the reader into their fascinating world. In a monumental address, given...
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reviews
Jul 07, 2009
Nick
rated it: 
Amazon 2009-01-25, after being freshly reminded of this book's existence by Dick Lipton's mention in CS7530, Randomized Algorithms.
Well, this was certainly packed with information and unhesitating about going into the details -- think of it as a precursor 300 pages to that great tome of essays, The Princeton Companion to Mathematics, just as I like 'em. Unfortunately, the prose was rather frenzied and at times desperately in need of grammatic help, but word choice was strong througho More...
Well, this was certainly packed with information and unhesitating about going into the details -- think of it as a precursor 300 pages to that great tome of essays, The Princeton Companion to Mathematics, just as I like 'em. Unfortunately, the prose was rather frenzied and at times desperately in need of grammatic help, but word choice was strong througho More...
Jul 14, 2008
Rod
rated it: 
In the early 1900's mathematician David Hilbert listed a number of mathematical problems that he believed should be addressed and solved in the near future. This book describes those problems and the efforts (successful or not) toward solution.
Overall a good treatment and well written. But there are some issues.
The author mixes biographical information (sometimes quite detailed) with the mathematics, making it somewhat confusing. Along a similar line, he doesn't recast More...
Overall a good treatment and well written. But there are some issues.
The author mixes biographical information (sometimes quite detailed) with the mathematics, making it somewhat confusing. Along a similar line, he doesn't recast More...
Aug 21, 2010
Amar
rated it: 
I had to re-purchase this book cos David Altman stole my copy! Really fascinating stuff... this is probably my favorite pop-math book of all time. The problem with most books of this sort is that they're either too superficial or too detailed. This one gets it just right.
Jul 03, 2008
Jay
rated it:
Yes, I'm a math geek, but this book is actually a very good historical account of the last century in mathematics.
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