5037

Derbyshire, John

a real and imaginary history of algebra

John Derbyshire

Joseph Henry Press

c2006

viii, 374 p., [8] p. of plates ill., ports. 24 cm

Includes bibliographical references and index , Math Primer: Numbers and Polynomials -- The Unknown Quantity -- Four Thousand Years Ago -- The Father of Algebra -- Completion and Reduction -- Math Primer: Cubic and Quartic Equations -- Commerce and Competition -- Relief for the Imagination -- Universal Arithmetic -- The Lions Claw -- Math Primer: Roots of Unity -- The Assault on the Quintic -- Math Primer: Vector Spaces and Algebras -- The Leap into the Fourth Dimension -- An Oblong Arrangement of Terms -- Victoriaʹs Brumous Isles -- Levels of Abstraction Math Primer: Field Theory -- Pistols at Dawn -- Lady of the Rings -- Math Primer: Algebraic Geometry -- Geometry Makes a Comeback -- Algebraic This, Algebraic That -- From Universal Arithmetic to Universal Algebra

512.009