Difference between revisions of "The Story of Mathematics"
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| − | '''''The Story of Mathematics''''' is a book about the history of [[mathematics]] written by [[Anne Rooney]] and published in 2008. It is | + | '''''The Story of Mathematics''''' is a book about the history of [[mathematics]] written by [[Anne Rooney]] and published in January 2008. It is the first book in Rooney's [[The Story Of (universe)|''The Story Of'' series]]. |
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==Personal== | ==Personal== | ||
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| − | + | I probably bought my copy in the discount section of a book store around 2012, and I probably read it shortly thereafter. I remember liking it the first time through, then, wanting to create a page for it in this Wiki, I reread. | |
==Review== | ==Review== | ||
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| − | * The magazine layout with | + | * The magazine layout, with many sidebars on each page, makes it difficult to stay focused on the main thread. |
===Ugly=== | ===Ugly=== | ||
Revision as of 14:31, 22 March 2023
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Paperback - USA - 1st edition. |
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The Story of Mathematics is a book about the history of mathematics written by Anne Rooney and published in January 2008. It is the first book in Rooney's The Story Of series.
Personal
| Own? | Paperback - USA - 1st edition. |
|---|---|
| Read? | Paperback - USA - 1st edition. |
| Finished | 201?. |
I probably bought my copy in the discount section of a book store around 2012, and I probably read it shortly thereafter. I remember liking it the first time through, then, wanting to create a page for it in this Wiki, I reread.
Review
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Overall: |
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Good
- Despite being about mathematics, the book is very easy to follow. It's fully illustrated and written for the average reader.
- The first chapter is a great introduction into teaching how numbers are a something humans had to invent rather than concepts that just exist on their own. It starts with pre-numeric systems like tick marks, then moves onto various early counting systems like Roman Numerals and the Chinese multiplicative system, then discusses the various and base-5, 12 and 60 systems used by ancient cultures before finally getting to the Hindu-Arabic system we use today. It also describes early versions of zero before it became a true placeholder, negative numbers, and fractions.
- I like how it discusses how early cultures don't have words for big numbers, and, when they do, they're cumbersome.
Bad
- The magazine layout, with many sidebars on each page, makes it difficult to stay focused on the main thread.
Ugly
- Nothing.
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