Author: Robert S. Cohen
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401021155
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 651
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Book Description
It is fitting that Professor Dirk Jan Struik be greeted with this melange of mathematical, scientific, historical, sociological and political essays. The authors are also appropriately varied: different countries, outlooks, religions, generations, and we suppose - of course we did not as- different politics too. Many more would have joined us, we know, but the good friends in this book make a fine and representative assembly of the intersection of two (mathematical!) classes: affectionately respect ful admirers of Dirk Struik, and the best thinkers of this troubled century. Struik has been among the most steadfast supporters of the Boston Colloquium for the Philosophy of Science, that discussion group which we have been holding at Boston University since 1960, but his luminous collaboration has been welcome, in Boston and Cambridge, for nearly five decades among mathematicians, physicists, philosophical and political thinkers, and especially among the students. It has not mattered whether they have been his own students or not, whether at M.LT. or elsewhere, whether scholars or dropouts, nature-lovers or book worms, anarchists or Republicans, Catholics or Unitarians, Communists or communists, prim or liberated. No doubt he has his preferences! But the main thing for Struik has been to educate and respect the other person.
Author: Jozef T. Devreese
Publisher: WIT Press
ISBN: 1845643917
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 354
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Book Description
This book gives a comprehensive picture of the activities and the creative heritage of Simon Stevin, who made outstanding contributions to various fields of science, in particular physics and mathematics. Among the striking spectrum of his ingenious achievements, it is worth emphasizing that Simon Stevin is rightly considered as the father of the system of decimal fractions as it is in use today. Stevin also urged the universal use of decimal fractions along with standardization in coinage, measures and weights. This was a most visionary proposal. Stevin was the first since Archimedes to make a significant new contribution to statics and hydrostatics. He truly was "homo universalis." The impact of Stevin's work has been multilateral and worldwide, including literature (William Shakespeare), science (from Christian Huygens to Richard Feynman), politics (Thomas Jefferson) and many other fields. Thomas Jefferson, together with Alexander Hamilton and Robert Morris, advocated introducing the decimal monetary units in the USA with reference to the book "De Thiende" by S. Stevin and in particular to the English translation of the book: "Disme: The Art of Tenths" by Robert Norton. In accordance with the title of this translation, the name of the first silver coin issued in the USA in 1792 was 'disme' (since 1837 the spelling changed to ('dime'). It was considered as a symbol of national independence of the USA.
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004432914
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 286
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Book Description
This book studies the Dutch mathematician Simon Stevin (1548-1620) as a new type of ‘man of knowledge’. Stevin exemplifies a wider trend of polymathy in the early modern period. Polymaths played a crucial role in the transformation of European learning.
Author: Richard Dedekind
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
ISBN: 0821890344
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 162
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Book Description
This book is the first English translation of the classic long paper Theorie der algebraischen Functionen einer Veranderlichen (Theory of algebraic functions of one variable), published by Dedekind and Weber in 1882. The translation has been enriched by a Translator's Introduction that includes historical background, and also by extensive commentary embedded in the translation itself. The translation, introduction, and commentary provide the first easy access to this important paper for a wide mathematical audience: students, historians of mathematics, and professional mathematicians. Why is the Dedekind-Weber paper important? In the 1850s, Riemann initiated a revolution in algebraic geometry by interpreting algebraic curves as surfaces covering the sphere. He obtained deep and striking results in pure algebra by intuitive arguments about surfaces and their topology. However, Riemann's arguments were not rigorous, and they remained in limbo until 1882, when Dedekind and Weber put them on a sound foundation. The key to this breakthrough was to develop the theory of algebraic functions in analogy with Dedekind's theory of algebraic numbers, where the concept of ideal plays a central role. By introducing such concepts into the theory of algebraic curves, Dedekind and Weber paved the way for modern algebraic geometry.
Author: Jean-pierre Tignol
Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company
ISBN: 9813102594
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 348
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Book Description
New Edition available hereGalois' Theory of Algebraic Equations gives a detailed account of the development of the theory of algebraic equations, from its origins in ancient times to its completion by Galois in the nineteenth century. The main emphasis is placed on equations of at least the third degree, i.e. on the developments during the period from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. The appropriate parts of works by Cardano, Lagrange, Vandermonde, Gauss, Abel and Galois are reviewed and placed in their historical perspective, with the aim of conveying to the reader a sense of the way in which the theory of algebraic equations has evolved and has led to such basic mathematical notions as “group” and “field”. A brief discussion on the fundamental theorems of modern Galois theory is included. Complete proofs of the quoted results are provided, but the material has been organized in such a way that the most technical details can be skipped by readers who are interested primarily in a broad survey of the theory.This book will appeal to both undergraduate and graduate students in mathematics and the history of science, and also to teachers and mathematicians who wish to obtain a historical perspective of the field. The text has been designed to be self-contained, but some familiarity with basic mathematical structures and with some elementary notions of linear algebra is desirable for a good understanding of the technical discussions in the later chapters.
Author: Pete E. Lestrel
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9814355232
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 324
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Book Description
The Proceedings describe the current state of research dealing with biological shape analysis. The quantitative analysis of the shape of biological organisms represents a challenge that has now seen breakthroughs with new methodologies such as elliptical Fourier analysis, quantitative trait loci analysis (QTLs), chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs), thin plate splines, etc. The Proceedings also illustrate the diversity of disciplines that are actively involved in the characterization and analysis of biological shape. Moreover, many of the papers focus on the relationship of the shape to the processes that determine the biological form, an issue of major continuing concern in biology.
Author: Ray Jackendoff
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262600460
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 512
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Book Description
A wide-ranging collection of essays inspired by the memory of the cognitive psychologist John Macnamara.
Author: Pete E Lestrel
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9814458627
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 324
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Book Description
The Proceedings describe the current state of research dealing with biological shape analysis. The quantitative analysis of the shape of biological organisms represents a challenge that has now seen breakthroughs with new methodologies such as elliptical Fourier analysis, quantitative trait loci analysis (QTLs), chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs), thin plate splines, etc. The Proceedings also illustrate the diversity of disciplines that are actively involved in the characterization and analysis of biological shape. Moreover, many of the papers focus on the relationship of the shape to the processes that determine the biological form, an issue of major continuing concern in biology.
Author: Dirk Jan Struik
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400858003
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 444
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Book Description
These selected mathematical writings cover the years when the foundations were laid for the theory of numbers, analytic geometry, and the calculus. Originally published in 1986. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Author: John Stillwell
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1475739761
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 194
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Book Description
Algebra is abstract mathematics - let us make no bones about it - yet it is also applied mathematics in its best and purest form. It is not abstraction for its own sake, but abstraction for the sake of efficiency, power and insight. Algebra emerged from the struggle to solve concrete, physical problems in geometry, and succeeded after 2000 years of failure by other forms of mathematics. It did this by exposing the mathematical structure of geometry, and by providing the tools to analyse it. This is typical of the way algebra is applied; it is the best and purest form of application because it reveals the simplest and most universal mathematical structures. The present book aims to foster a proper appreciation of algebra by showing abstraction at work on concrete problems, the classical problems of construction by straightedge and compass. These problems originated in the time of Euclid, when geometry and number theory were paramount, and were not solved until th the 19 century, with the advent of abstract algebra. As we now know, alge bra brings about a unification of geometry, number theory and indeed most branches of mathematics. This is not really surprising when one has a historical understanding of the subject, which I also hope to impart.
