Technological Organizations & Institutions, United States Colleges & Universities - New England States
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Overview
The mathematics department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is regularly ranked one of the top mathematics departments in the United States. This lively oral history captures a generation of mathematicians who made that rise to prominence possible. It traces the development of thirteen individuals for whom mathematics was the pursuit of a lifetime. They remember their first attraction to mathematics and describe the inspiration of past giants in the field: Emil Artin, Alonzo Church, Paul Erdos, Alexander Grothendiek, Peter Lax, Solomon Lefschetz, James Lighthill, Marshall Stone, Oscar Zariski. They recount the unfolding of their careers, from early interests through unexpected professional turns, including the challenges and rewards of teaching and service to the mathematics community as a whole.Synopsis
This book traces the history of the MIT Department of Mathematics―one of the most important mathematics departments in the world―through candid, in-depth, lively conversations with a select and diverse group of its senior members. The process reveals much about the motivation, path, and impact of research mathematicians in a society that owes so much to this little understood and often mystifying section of its intellectual fabric.At a time when the mathematical experience touches and attracts more laypeople than ever, such a book contributes to our understanding and entertains through its personal approach.
Book Details
Published
December 22, 2008
Publisher
CRC Press
Pages
330
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9781568814490