The Inner Child Keeps on Growing

Taming the Infinite by Ian Stewart
ISBN: 978-1-84724-768-1
Quercus, 2009, 384pp

Summary

A history of mathematical discovery, considered from the point of view of individual subject areas.

Verdict

Not just a good overview of the history of mathematics, but a good overview of the whole subject.

In this book, Stewart has chosen not to follow an historical timeline. Instead he picks the significant topics of mathematical study and traces their development through time. I was somewhat amused by the fact that in the introduction Stewart emphasises that this is not the history of mathematics, just a history so naturally the cover copy says ‘The story of mathematics…’ (my italics)!

What was nice for me personally about this book is that it covers pretty much all of the topics that my degree covered – although it was also a timely reminder of how much I have forgotten! By the end of this I was determined to pick up some of my old textbooks and work through them again.

One warning though, some of the discussions are quite detailed, including examples, so it is pretty tough going if your mathematics is rusty (I certainly found it difficult to follow in places), so don’t expect an easy read.

Overall if you want a good overview of the subject, from number theory to chaos theory, covering calculus, geometry, algebra, analysis, complex analysis and functional analysis on the way, this is highly recommended.

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