From the Calculus to Set Theory 1630-1910: An Introductory History

Description

From the Calculus to Set Theory traces the development of the calculus from the early seventeenth century through its expansion into mathematical analysis to the developments in set theory and the foundations of mathematics in the early twentieth century. It chronicles the work of mathematicians from Descartes and Newton to Russell and Hilbert and many, many others while emphasizing foundational questions and underlining the continuity of developments in higher mathematics. The other contributors to this volume are H. J. M. Bos, R. Bunn, J. W. Dauben, T. W. Hawkins, and K. Moller-Pedersen.

I. Grattan-Guinness is Professor of the History of Mathematics and Logic at Middlesex University. Founder of the journal History and Philosophy of Logic and past President of the British Society for the History of Mathematics, he has authored or edited numerous books, including The Norton History of Mathematics, Companion Encyclopedia of the History and Philosophy of the Mathematical Sciences, and Convolutions in French Mathematics, 1800-1840, and The Search for Mathematical Roots, 1870-1940.

"From the Calculus to Set Theory is a valuable reference for anyone with enough preparation in mathematics to read it."--Lenore Feigenbaum, Centaurus "This book is a useful collection of articles... The history of the calculus provides a superb lesson in how mathematics develops."--Morris Kline, Isis