Labyrinth of Thought: A History of Set Theory and Its Role in Modern Mathematics

by Jose Ferreiros, Erwin Hiebert (Editor), Eberhard Knobloch (Editor)

"José Ferreirós has written a magisterial account of the history of set theory which is panoramic, balanced, and engaging. Not only does this book synthesize much previous work and provide fresh insights and points of view, but it also features a major innovation, a full-fledged treatment of the emergence of the set-theoretic approach in mathematics from the early nineteenth century. This takes up Part One of the book. Part Two analyzes the crucial developments in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, above all the work of Cantor, but also Dedekind and the interaction between the two. Lastly, Part Three details the development of set theory up to 1950, taking account of foundational questions and the emergence of the modern axiomatization." (Bulletin of Symbolic Logic)

Genres: Mathematics, History, Philosophy, Science, Logic

440 pages, Hardcover

First published November 23, 1999

Reviews

[Ron Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

By elaborating the complex cross currents that fed into the development of set theory Ferreiros sheds much light on a subject that those of us who were raised on 'modern mathematics' take too much for granted. Quite a difficult read but very rewarding.