Summary
Encyclopedia of Mathematics is a comprehensive one-volume encyclopedia designed for high school through early college students. More than 1,000 entries, numerous essays, and more than 150 photographs and illustrations cover the principal areas and issues that characterize this area of science. In order to provide a well-rounded, completely accessible reference, the author worked closely with teachers of all levels in developing subject material and a sound understanding of mathematical concepts, and on teaching analytical thinking.
This valuable resource unites disparate ideas and provides the meaning, history, context, and relevance behind each one. The easy-to-use format makes finding straightforward and natural answers to questions within arithmetic—such as algebra, trigonometry, geometry, probability, combinatorics, numbers, logic, calculus, and statistics—simple. Encyclopedia of Mathematics also gives historical context to mathematical concepts, with entries discussing ancient Arabic, Babylonian, Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, Hindu, and Mayan mathematics, as well as entries providing biographical descriptions of important people in the development of mathematics.
Essay entries include:
- Arabic mathematics
- Babylonian mathematics
- Egyptian mathematics
- Mayan mathematics
- Number systems
- History of calculus
- History of functions
- History of geometry
- History of trigonometry
- Indian mathematics.
Biographical entries include:
- Georg Cantor
- Descartes
- Euclid
- Fibonacci
- Carl Friedrich Gauss
- David Hilbert
- Pythagoras
- Brook Taylor
- John Von Neumann
- Zeno of Elea.
Specifications
Black-and-white photographs and line illustrations. Index. Appendixes. Bibliography. Cross-references. Chronology.
About the Author(s)
James Tanton, Ph.D., earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from Princeton University in 1994. Tanton pursued his interests in education, as well as an active research program, while working at New College of the University of South Florida, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and Merrimack College. He won the Homer L. Dodge Award for college-wide teaching excellence in 1999 as a faculty member of St. Mary’s College of Maryland.