Raymond Flood

A biography of mathematics includes stories of great mathematicians from the 6th century B.C. to the present.

The mathematical tradition at Oxford is one of the oldest in Britain, and Oxford scholars have been at the forefront of mathematical research for the past eight centuries. This is the story of the intellectual and social life of this community, and of its interactions with the wider world.

Dit boek bevat de tekst van een serie lezingen die in 1985 gehouden werd in Oxford. Thema: de tijd, en met name de problematiek van de tijd zoals die speelt in de moderne thermodynamica, de kosmologie en de quantummechanica. Die problematiek is uitermate gecompliceerd, en voor niet-deskundigen moeilijk te begrijpen. Des te groter is de prestatie van de acht auteurs, allen deskundigen van topniveau, die erin geslaagd zijn dit terrein toegankelijk te maken voor leken, helder en boeiend. Het boek is niet eenvoudig, maar het vereist slechts weinig natuurkundige voorkennis. Het bevat een register en een bibliografie. Vergelijkbare boeken over de tijd zijn er genoeg, maar niet van dit niveau en deze helderheid. (NBD|Biblion recensie, Drs. D.G. van der Steen.)

"James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) had a relatively brief, but remarkable life, lived in his beloved rural home of Glenlair, and variously in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, London and Cambridge. His scholarship also ranged wide--covering all the major aspects of Victorian natural philosophy. He is regarded as one of the most important mathematical physicists of all time, coming only after Newton and Einstein. In scientific terms his immortality is enshrined in electromagnetism and Maxwell's equations, but as this book shows, there was much more to Maxwell than electromagnetism, both in terms of his science and his wider life. Maxwell's life and contributions to science are so rich that they demand the expertise of a range of academics--physicists, mathematicians, and historians of science and literature--to do him justice."--Dust jacket.

Most people have heard of the Mobius band. But the work and influence of August Mobius are more far-reaching than a topological toy. For some fifty years of the nineteenth century, August Mobius taught astronomy and researched in mathematics at Leipzig University. During those years, which saw the German nation move towards unification, German mathematics developed into the most powerful and influential in the world and German astronomers became the world leaders. How did this come about? In this fascinating, richly illustrated, and accessible book, leading scholars assess the contribution of Mobius and others of his time to the practice of mathematics and astronomy today. Mobius and his band has been written for all those interested in the historical development of ideas and their legacy, and thus both the general reader and specialists in particular fields will find much of interest.