The Rainbow of Mathematics: a History of the Mathematical Sciences (The Norton History of Science)

Beginning with the Babylonian and Egyptian mathematicians of antiquity, Ivor Grattan-Guinness "succeeds masterfully in viewing the history of mathematics from a new perspective" (Professor Karen Hunger Parshall, editor of Historia Mathematica).

He charts the growth of mathematics through its refinement by ancient Greeks and then medieval Arabs, to its systematic development by Europeans from the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century. This book describes the evolution of arithmetic and geometry, trigonometry and algebra; the interplay between mathematics, physics, and mathematical astronomy; and "new" branches such as probability and statistics. Authoritative and comprehensive, The Rainbow of Mathematics is a unique account of the development of the science that is at the heart of so many other sciences. Originally published under the title The Norton History of the Mathematical Sciences.