Revolutions of Geometry

Revolutions of Geometry
Author: Michael L. O'Leary
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 608
Release: 2010-02-22
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 047059179X

Guides readers through the development of geometry and basic proof writing using a historical approach to the topic In an effort to fully appreciate the logic and structure of geometric proofs, Revolutions of Geometry places proofs into the context of geometry's history, helping readers to understand that proof writing is crucial to the job of a mathematician. Written for students and educators of mathematics alike, the book guides readers through the rich history and influential works, from ancient times to the present, behind the development of geometry. As a result, readers are successfully equipped with the necessary logic to develop a full understanding of geometric theorems. Following a presentation of the geometry of ancient Egypt, Babylon, and China, the author addresses mathematical philosophy and logic within the context of works by Thales, Plato, and Aristotle. Next, the mathematics of the classical Greeks is discussed, incorporating the teachings of Pythagoras and his followers along with an overview of lower-level geometry using Euclid's Elements. Subsequent chapters explore the work of Archimedes, Viete's revolutionary contributions to algebra, Descartes' merging of algebra and geometry to solve the Pappus problem, and Desargues' development of projective geometry. The author also supplies an excursion into non-Euclidean geometry, including the three hypotheses of Saccheri and Lambert and the near simultaneous discoveries of Lobachevski and Bolyai. Finally, modern geometry is addressed within the study of manifolds and elliptic geometry inspired by Riemann's work, Poncelet's return to projective geometry, and Klein's use of group theory to characterize different geometries. The book promotes the belief that in order to learn how to write proofs, one needs to read finished proofs, studying both their logic and grammar. Each chapter features a concise introduction to the presented topic, and chapter sections conclude with exercises that are designed to reinforce the material and provide readers with ample practice in writing proofs. In addition, the overall presentation of topics in the book is in chronological order, helping readers appreciate the relevance of geometry within the historical development of mathematics. Well organized and clearly written, Revolutions of Geometry is a valuable book for courses on modern geometry and the history of mathematics at the upper-undergraduate level. It is also a valuable reference for educators in the field of mathematics.

Euclid's Window

Euclid's Window
Author: Leonard Mlodinow
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2010-09-28
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1439135371

Through Euclid's Window Leonard Mlodinow brilliantly and delightfully leads us on a journey through five revolutions in geometry, from the Greek concept of parallel lines to the latest notions of hyperspace. Here is an altogether new, refreshing, alternative history of math revealing how simple questions anyone might ask about space -- in the living room or in some other galaxy -- have been the hidden engine of the highest achievements in science and technology. Based on Mlodinow's extensive historical research; his studies alongside colleagues such as Richard Feynman and Kip Thorne; and interviews with leading physicists and mathematicians such as Murray Gell-Mann, Edward Witten, and Brian Greene, Euclid's Window is an extraordinary blend of rigorous, authoritative investigation and accessible, good-humored storytelling that makes a stunningly original argument asserting the primacy of geometry. For those who have looked through Euclid's Window, no space, no thing, and no time will ever be quite the same.

Revolutions in Mathematics

Revolutions in Mathematics
Author: Donald Gillies
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
Total Pages: 353
Release: 1995
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780198514862

The essays in this book provide the first comprehensive treatment of the concept of revolution in mathematics. In 1962 an exciting discussion of revolutions in the natural sciences was prompted by the publication of Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. A fascinating but little knownoffshoot of this debate was begun in the USA in the mid-1970s: can the concept of revolutions be applied to mathematics as well as science? Michael Crowe declared that revolutions never occur in mathematics, while Joseph Dauben argued that there have been mathematical revolutions and gave someexamples.The original papers of Crowe, Dauben, and Mehrtens are reprinted in this book, together with additional chapters giving their current views. To this are added new contributions from nine further experts in the history of mathematics who each discuss an important episode and consider whether it was arevolution.This book is an excellent reference work and an ideal course text for both graduate and undergraduate courses in the history and philosophy of science and mathematics.

Revolution in Science

Revolution in Science
Author: I. Bernard Cohen
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 742
Release: 1985
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780674767782

Cohen's exploration seeks to uncover nothing less than the nature of all scientific revolutions, the stages by which they occur, their time scale, specific criteria for determining whether or not there has been a revolution, and the creative factors in producing a revolutionary new idea.

Topology

Topology
Author: Paul L. Shick
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2011-10-14
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1118030583

The essentials of point-set topology, complete with motivation and numerous examples Topology: Point-Set and Geometric presents an introduction to topology that begins with the axiomatic definition of a topology on a set, rather than starting with metric spaces or the topology of subsets of Rn. This approach includes many more examples, allowing students to develop more sophisticated intuition and enabling them to learn how to write precise proofs in a brand-new context, which is an invaluable experience for math majors. Along with the standard point-set topology topics—connected and path-connected spaces, compact spaces, separation axioms, and metric spaces—Topology covers the construction of spaces from other spaces, including products and quotient spaces. This innovative text culminates with topics from geometric and algebraic topology (the Classification Theorem for Surfaces and the fundamental group), which provide instructors with the opportunity to choose which "capstone" best suits his or her students. Topology: Point-Set and Geometric features: A short introduction in each chapter designed to motivate the ideas and place them into an appropriate context Sections with exercise sets ranging in difficulty from easy to fairly challenging Exercises that are very creative in their approaches and work well in a classroom setting A supplemental Web site that contains complete and colorful illustrations of certain objects, several learning modules illustrating complicated topics, and animations of particularly complex proofs

Geometry

Geometry
Author: John Tabak
Publisher: Infobase Publishing
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2014-05-14
Genre: Electronic books
ISBN: 0816068763

Greek ideas about geometry, straight-edge and compass constructions, and the nature of mathematical proof dominated mathematical thought for about 2,000 years.

Geometry and Meaning

Geometry and Meaning
Author: Dominic Widdows
Publisher: Stanford Univ Center for the Study
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2004
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 9781575864471

Geometric models similar to those of Pythagoras and Einstein are now being applied to the conceptual space of information and meaning, for example in the arrangement of Internet documents. This text explores the computational techniques necessary to represent meaning and their basis in conceptual space.

Greek Mathematical Thought and the Origin of Algebra

Greek Mathematical Thought and the Origin of Algebra
Author: Jacob Klein
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2013-04-22
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0486319814

Important study focuses on the revival and assimilation of ancient Greek mathematics in the 13th-16th centuries, via Arabic science, and the 16th-century development of symbolic algebra. 1968 edition. Bibliography.

The Foundations of Geometry

The Foundations of Geometry
Author: David Hilbert
Publisher: Read Books Ltd
Total Pages: 139
Release: 2015-05-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 1473395941

This early work by David Hilbert was originally published in the early 20th century and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. David Hilbert was born on the 23rd January 1862, in a Province of Prussia. Hilbert is recognised as one of the most influential and universal mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. He discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many areas, including invariant theory and the axiomatization of geometry. He also formulated the theory of Hilbert spaces, one of the foundations of functional analysis.

Benoit Mandelbrot: A Life In Many Dimensions

Benoit Mandelbrot: A Life In Many Dimensions
Author: Michael Frame
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 578
Release: 2015-03-02
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 9814635537

This is a collection of articles, many written by people who worked with Mandelbrot, memorializing the remarkable breadth and depth of his work in science and the arts. Contributors include mathematicians, physicists, biologists, economists, and engineers, as expected; and also artists, musicians, teachers, an historian, an architect, a filmmaker, and a comic. Some articles are quite technical, others entirely descriptive. All include stories about Benoit.Also included are chapters on fractals and music by Charles Wuorinen and by Harlan Brothers, on fractals and finance by Richard Hudson and by Christian Walter, on fractal invisibility cloaks by Nathan Cohen, and a personal reminiscence by Aliette Mandelbrot.While he is known most widely for his work in mathematics and in finance, Benoit influenced almost every field of modern intellectual activity. No other book captures the breadth of all of Benoit's accomplishments.