The Mathematics of Sonya Kovalevskaya

The Mathematics of Sonya Kovalevskaya
Author: R. Cooke
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 264
Release: 1984-11-12
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780387960302
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This book is the result of a decision taken in 1980 to begin studying the history of mathematics in the nineteenth century. I hoped by doing it to learn some thing of value about Kovalevskaya herself and about the mathematical world she inhabited. Having been trained as a mathematician, I also hoped to learn something about the proper approach to the history of the subject. The decision to begin the study with Kovalevskaya, apart from the intrinsic interest of Kovalevskaya herself, was primarily based upon the fact that the writing on her in English had been done by people who were interested in sociological and psychological aspects of her life. None of these writings discussed her mathematical work in much detail. This omission seemed to me a serious one in biographical studies of a woman whose primary significance was her mathematical work. In regard to both the content of nineteenth century mathematics and the nature of the history of mathematics I learned a great deal from writing this book. The attempt to put Kovalevskaya's work in historical context involved reading dozens of significant papers by great mathematicians. In many cases, I fear, the purport of these papers is better known to many of my readers than to me. If I persevered despite misgivings, my excuse is that this book is, after all, primarily about Kovalevskaya. If specialists in Euler, Cauchy, etc.

The Mathematics of Sonya Kovalevskaya

The Mathematics of Sonya Kovalevskaya
Author: R. Cooke
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1461252741
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This book is the result of a decision taken in 1980 to begin studying the history of mathematics in the nineteenth century. I hoped by doing it to learn some thing of value about Kovalevskaya herself and about the mathematical world she inhabited. Having been trained as a mathematician, I also hoped to learn something about the proper approach to the history of the subject. The decision to begin the study with Kovalevskaya, apart from the intrinsic interest of Kovalevskaya herself, was primarily based upon the fact that the writing on her in English had been done by people who were interested in sociological and psychological aspects of her life. None of these writings discussed her mathematical work in much detail. This omission seemed to me a serious one in biographical studies of a woman whose primary significance was her mathematical work. In regard to both the content of nineteenth century mathematics and the nature of the history of mathematics I learned a great deal from writing this book. The attempt to put Kovalevskaya's work in historical context involved reading dozens of significant papers by great mathematicians. In many cases, I fear, the purport of these papers is better known to many of my readers than to me. If I persevered despite misgivings, my excuse is that this book is, after all, primarily about Kovalevskaya. If specialists in Euler, Cauchy, etc.

Beyond the Limit

Beyond the Limit
Author: Joan Spicci
Publisher: JSS Literary Productions, LLC
Total Pages: 645
Release: 2021-09-29
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0979625785
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Beyond The Limit is the true story of the first woman to receive a doctorate in mathematics. Despite the dictates of the Tsar's oppressive government, teenaged Sofya desires education above all else. Her rebellious pursuit takes her on a journey far beyond the challenges of academia in a man's world. She becomes entangled in a fictitious marriage, a tempestuous affair, and a brutal civil war before her victorious return home.

A Russian Childhood

A Russian Childhood
Author: S. Kovalevskaya
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2013-12-11
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1475738390
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In the year 1889 Sofya Vasilievna Kovalevskaya, Profes sor of Mathematics at the University of Stockholm, pub lished her recollections of growing up in mid-nineteenth century Russia. Professor Kovalevskaya was already an international celebrity, and partly for the wrong reasons: less as the distinguished mathematician she actually was than as a "mathematical lady"--A bizarre but fascinating phenomenon.* Her book was an immediate success. She had written it in Russian, but its first publication was a translation into Swedish, the language of her adopted homeland, where it appeared thinly disguised as a novel under the title From Russian Ltfe: the Rajevski Sisters (Sonja Kovalevsky. Ur ryska lifvet. Systrarna Rajevski. Heggstrom, 1889). In the following year the book came out in Russia in two *"My gifted Mathematical Assistant Mr. Hammond exclaimed ... 'Why, this is the first handsome mathematical lady I have ever seen!'" Letter to S.V. Kovalevskaya from].]. Sylvester, Professor of Mathe matics, New College, Oxford, Dec. 25, 1886

Remarkable Mathematicians

Remarkable Mathematicians
Author: Ioan James
Publisher: Mathematical Association of America
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2003-02-06
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 9780521817776
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Ioan James introduces and profiles sixty mathematicians from the era when mathematics was freed from its classical origins to develop into its modern form. The subjects, all born between 1700 and 1910, come from a wide range of countries, and all made important contributions to mathematics, through their ideas, their teaching, and their influence. James emphasizes their varied life stories, not the details of their mathematical achievements. The book is organized chronologically into ten chapters, each of which contains biographical sketches of six mathematicians. The men and women James has chosen to portray are representative of the history of mathematics, such that their stories, when read in sequence, convey in human terms something of the way in which mathematics developed. Ioan James is a professor at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford. He is the author of Topological Topics (Cambridge, 1983), Fibrewise Topology (Cambridge, 1989), Introduction to Uniform Spaces (Cambridge, 1990), Topological and Uniform Spaces (Springer-Verlag New York, 1999), and co-author with Michael C. Crabb of Fibrewise Homotopy Theory (Springer-Verlag New York, 1998). James is the former editor of the London Mathematical Society Lecture Note Series and volume editor of numerous books. He is the organizer of the Oxford Series of Topology symposia and other conferences, and co-chairman of the Task Force for Mathematical Sciences of Campaign for Oxford.

An Episodic History of Mathematics

An Episodic History of Mathematics
Author: Steven G. Krantz
Publisher: MAA
Total Pages: 395
Release: 2010-04
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0883857669
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A series of snapshots of the history of mathematics from ancient times to the twentieth century.

Do I Count?

Do I Count?
Author: Gunter M. Ziegler
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2013-07-22
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1466564911
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The subject of mathematics is not something distant, strange, and abstract that you can only learn about—and often dislike—in school. It is in everyday situations, such as housekeeping, communications, traffic, and weather reports. Taking you on a trip into the world of mathematics, Do I Count? Stories from Mathematics describes in a clear and captivating way the people behind the numbers and the places where mathematics is made. Written by top scientist and engaging storyteller Günter M. Ziegler and translated by Thomas von Foerster, the book presents mathematics and mathematicians in a manner that you have not previously encountered. It guides you on a scenic tour through the field, pointing out which beds were useful in constructing which theorems and which notebooks list the prizes for solving particular problems. Forgoing esoteric areas, the text relates mathematics to celebrities, history, travel, politics, science and technology, weather, clever puzzles, and the future. Can bees count? Is 13 bad luck? Are there equations for everything? What’s the real practical value of the Pythagorean Theorem? Are there Sudoku puzzles with fewer than 17 entries and just one solution? Where and how do mathematicians work? Who invented proofs and why do we need them? Why is there no Nobel Prize for mathematics? What kind of life did Paul Erdős lead? Find out the answers to these and other questions in this entertaining book of stories. You’ll see that everyone counts, but no computation is needed.

The Princeton Companion to Mathematics

The Princeton Companion to Mathematics
Author: Timothy Gowers
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 1057
Release: 2010-07-18
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1400830397
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The ultimate mathematics reference book This is a one-of-a-kind reference for anyone with a serious interest in mathematics. Edited by Timothy Gowers, a recipient of the Fields Medal, it presents nearly two hundred entries—written especially for this book by some of the world's leading mathematicians—that introduce basic mathematical tools and vocabulary; trace the development of modern mathematics; explain essential terms and concepts; examine core ideas in major areas of mathematics; describe the achievements of scores of famous mathematicians; explore the impact of mathematics on other disciplines such as biology, finance, and music—and much, much more. Unparalleled in its depth of coverage, The Princeton Companion to Mathematics surveys the most active and exciting branches of pure mathematics. Accessible in style, this is an indispensable resource for undergraduate and graduate students in mathematics as well as for researchers and scholars seeking to understand areas outside their specialties. Features nearly 200 entries, organized thematically and written by an international team of distinguished contributors Presents major ideas and branches of pure mathematics in a clear, accessible style Defines and explains important mathematical concepts, methods, theorems, and open problems Introduces the language of mathematics and the goals of mathematical research Covers number theory, algebra, analysis, geometry, logic, probability, and more Traces the history and development of modern mathematics Profiles more than ninety-five mathematicians who influenced those working today Explores the influence of mathematics on other disciplines Includes bibliographies, cross-references, and a comprehensive index Contributors include: Graham Allan, Noga Alon, George Andrews, Tom Archibald, Sir Michael Atiyah, David Aubin, Joan Bagaria, Keith Ball, June Barrow-Green, Alan Beardon, David D. Ben-Zvi, Vitaly Bergelson, Nicholas Bingham, Béla Bollobás, Henk Bos, Bodil Branner, Martin R. Bridson, John P. Burgess, Kevin Buzzard, Peter J. Cameron, Jean-Luc Chabert, Eugenia Cheng, Clifford C. Cocks, Alain Connes, Leo Corry, Wolfgang Coy, Tony Crilly, Serafina Cuomo, Mihalis Dafermos, Partha Dasgupta, Ingrid Daubechies, Joseph W. Dauben, John W. Dawson Jr., Francois de Gandt, Persi Diaconis, Jordan S. Ellenberg, Lawrence C. Evans, Florence Fasanelli, Anita Burdman Feferman, Solomon Feferman, Charles Fefferman, Della Fenster, José Ferreirós, David Fisher, Terry Gannon, A. Gardiner, Charles C. Gillispie, Oded Goldreich, Catherine Goldstein, Fernando Q. Gouvêa, Timothy Gowers, Andrew Granville, Ivor Grattan-Guinness, Jeremy Gray, Ben Green, Ian Grojnowski, Niccolò Guicciardini, Michael Harris, Ulf Hashagen, Nigel Higson, Andrew Hodges, F. E. A. Johnson, Mark Joshi, Kiran S. Kedlaya, Frank Kelly, Sergiu Klainerman, Jon Kleinberg, Israel Kleiner, Jacek Klinowski, Eberhard Knobloch, János Kollár, T. W. Körner, Michael Krivelevich, Peter D. Lax, Imre Leader, Jean-François Le Gall, W. B. R. Lickorish, Martin W. Liebeck, Jesper Lützen, Des MacHale, Alan L. Mackay, Shahn Majid, Lech Maligranda, David Marker, Jean Mawhin, Barry Mazur, Dusa McDuff, Colin McLarty, Bojan Mohar, Peter M. Neumann, Catherine Nolan, James Norris, Brian Osserman, Richard S. Palais, Marco Panza, Karen Hunger Parshall, Gabriel P. Paternain, Jeanne Peiffer, Carl Pomerance, Helmut Pulte, Bruce Reed, Michael C. Reed, Adrian Rice, Eleanor Robson, Igor Rodnianski, John Roe, Mark Ronan, Edward Sandifer, Tilman Sauer, Norbert Schappacher, Andrzej Schinzel, Erhard Scholz, Reinhard Siegmund-Schultze, Gordon Slade, David J. Spiegelhalter, Jacqueline Stedall, Arild Stubhaug, Madhu Sudan, Terence Tao, Jamie Tappenden, C. H. Taubes, Rüdiger Thiele, Burt Totaro, Lloyd N. Trefethen, Dirk van Dalen, Richard Weber, Dominic Welsh, Avi Wigderson, Herbert Wilf, David Wilkins, B. Yandell, Eric Zaslow, and Doron Zeilberger

Mathematicians are People, Too

Mathematicians are People, Too
Author: Luetta Reimer
Publisher:
Total Pages: 162
Release: 1990
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:
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Looks at the history of mathematical discoveries and the lives of great mathematicians.

The Three-Body Problem

The Three-Body Problem
Author: Catherine Shaw
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2013-05-27
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 074901444X
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Cambridge, 1888. When schoolmistress Vanessa Duncan learns of a murder at St John's College, little does she know that she will become deeply entangled in the mystery. Dr Geoffrey Akers, Fellow in Pure Mathematics, has been found dead, struck down by a violent blow to the head. What could provoke such a brutal act? Vanessa, finding herself in amongst Cambridge's brightest scholarly minds, discovers that the motive may lie in mathematics itself. Drawn closer to the case by a blossoming friendship with mathematician Arthur Weatherburn, Vanessa begins to investigate. When she learns of Sir Isaac Newton's elusive 'n-body problem' and the prestigious prize offered to anyone with a solution, things begin to make sense. But with further deaths occurring and the threat of an innocent man being condemned, Vanessa must hurry with her calculations . . .