The Math Book by Clifford A. PickoverPublisher: Sterling Publishing 2009
Hardback 528 pages
Have I ever told you that I love math? Yes, that's right. I love literature, art, music... and math. And if there is one thing that I enjoy more than solving complex algebraic equations (and really... who doesn't LOVE algebra?) it is reading about the history of math.
This book is great for curling up in bed with. At a heft of 528 pages it may seem intimidating at first, but each page is dedicated to a singular subject accompanied by a photo on the opposite page. It is a chronological look into the history of mathematics, starting at c. 150 million B.C. with the ant odometer to more modern equations such as solving of the holyhedron and the "Mathematical Universe Hypothesis". One reason I enjoyed this book so much, was that while each page is a stand alone entry dedicated to a certain mathematical principle or discovery, at the end the author will reference related principles in a "See Also" section, making the journey seem more like a "choose your own adventure" then your typical subject encyclopedia.
This book is definitely not exhaustive in its survey of the history of Mathematics, but it does provide a great "jumping off" point to other more particular fields. Pickover includes in the book an extensive bibliography that would take years for me to get through! He also lists quite a few online resources linked to tinyurl.com sites. I randomly checked a half dozen sites and found the majority of them to still be active.
One entry that has definitely peaked my interest and inspired me to do further research was pg 242 "Boolean Algebra". I have taught classes on the use of Boolean operators as they apply to searching the internet, but I never have stopped to learn why we call them what we do! Or to wonder about the reasoning or history behind it.
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