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Overview
Like masterpieces of art, music, and literature, great mathematical theorems are creative milestones, works of genius destined to last forever. Now William Dunham gives them the attention they deserve.
Dunham places each theorem within its historical context and explores the very human and often turbulent life of the creator — from Archimedes, the absentminded theoretician whose absorption in his work often precluded eating or bathing, to Gerolamo Cardano, the sixteenth-century mathematician whose accomplishments flourished despite a bizarre array of misadventures, to the paranoid genius of modern times, Georg Cantor. He also provides step-by-step proofs for the theorems, each easily accessible to readers with no more than a knowledge of high school mathematics.
A rare combination of the historical, biographical, and mathematical, Journey Through Genius is a fascinating introduction to a neglected field of human creativity.
Synopsis
Explores the ``masterpieces'' of mathematics, seventeen landmarks spanning 2,300 years and representing ten mathematicians. Each of these landmarks, to some degree, changed the way the world was perceived. Each theorem is presented with a description of the state of mathematics at the time, the development of the theorem, a biographical sketch of the mathematician and an outline of the proof with explanation.