A Brief History of Mathematical Thought

Advertisements for the wildly popular game of Sudoku often feature the reassuring words, "no mathematical knowledge required." In fact, the only skill Sudoku does require is the use of mathematical logic. For many people, anxiety about math is so entrenched, and grade school memories so
haunting, that these disclaimers - though misleading - are necessary to avoid intimidating potential buyers.

In A Brief History of Mathematical Thought, Luke Heaton provides a compulsively readable history that situates mathematics within the human experience and, in the process, makes it more accessible. Mastering math begins with understanding its history. Heaton's book therefore offers a lively guide
into and through the world of numbers and equations-one in which patterns and arguments are traced through logic in the language of concrete experience. Heaton reveals how Greek and Roman mathematicians like Pythagoras, Euclid, and Archimedes helped shaped the early logic of mathematics; how the
Fibonacci sequence, the rise of algebra, and the invention of calculus are connected; how clocks, coordinates, and logical padlocks work mathematically; and how, in the twentieth century, Alan Turing's revolutionary work on the concept of computation laid the groundwork for the modern world.

A Brief History of Mathematical Thought situates mathematics as part of, and essential to, lived experience. Understanding it does not require the application of various rules or numbing memorization, but rather a historical imagination and a view to its origins. Moving from the origin of numbers,
into calculus, and through infinity, Heaton sheds light on the language of math and its significance to human life.

Emblazoned on many advertisements for the wildly popular game of Sudoku are the reassuring words, -no mathematical knowledge required.- Anxiety about math plagues many of us, and school memories can still summon intense loathing. In A Brief History of Mathematical Thought, Luke Heaton shows that much of what many think-and fear-about mathematics is misplaced, and to overcome our insecurities we need to understand its history. To help, he offers a lively guide into and through the world of mathematics and mathematicians, one in which patterns and arguments are traced through logic in a language grounded in concrete experience. Heaton reveals how Greek and Roman mathematicians like Pythagoras, Euclid, and Archimedes helped shaped the early logic of mathematics; how the Fibonacci sequence, the rise of algebra, and the invention of calculus are connected; how clocks, coordinates, and logical padlocks work mathematically; and how, in the twentieth century, Alan Turing's revolutionary work on the concept of computation laid the groundwork for the modern world. A Brief History of Mathematical Thought situates mathematics as part of, and essential to, lived experience. Understanding it requires not abstract thought or numbing memorization but an historical imagination and a view to its origins. --