Within this two-volume edition, Professor Smith covers the entire history of mathematics in the Near and Far East and the West, from primitive number concepts to the calculus. His account is distinguished by impeccable scholarship combined with unusual clarity and readability. Footnotes add many technical points outside the book's actual line of development and direct the reader to disputed matters and source readings. Hundreds of illustrations from Egyptian papyri, Hindu, Chinese, and Japanese manuscripts, Greek and Roman texts, Medieval treatises, maps, portraits, etc. are used along with modern graphs and diagrams. Every major figure from Euclid to Descartes, Gauss, and Riemann and hundreds of lesser-known figures — Theon of Smyrna, Rabbi ben Ezra, Radulph of Laon, Mersenns, Benedetti, and more — are considered both with respect to specific problems and with an awareness of their overall influence on mathematics. Volume II: Special Topics, considering mathematics in terms of arithmetic geometry, algebra, trig, calculus, calculating machines, and other specific fields and problems. 192 Topics for Discussion. 195 illustrations. Index.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1883.

An exploration of the life and work of the thirteenth-century mathematician Ch'in, this fascinating book examines a range of mathematical issues that reflect Chinese life of a millennium ago. Its first part consists of four closely related studies of Ch'in and his work. The first study brings together what is known of the mathematician's life and of the history of his only extant work, the Shu-shu chiu-chang. Subsequent studies examine the entire range of mathematical techniques and problems found within Ch'in's book. The core of this book consists of an in-depth study of what modern mathematicians still refer to as the Chinese remainder theorem for the solution of indeterminate equations of the first degree. This was Ch'in's most original contribution to mathematics--so original that no one could correctly explain Ch'in's procedure until the early nineteenth century. This volume's concluding study unites information on artisanal, economic, administrative, and military affairs dispersed throughout Ch'in's writings, providing rare insights into thirteenth-century China.

The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art has been the most important mathematical source in China for the past 2000 years, comparable in significance to Euclid's Elements in the West. The Nine Chapters quickly acquired a distinguished reputation, and was the standard mathematics textbook in China and the surrounding regions until Western science was introduced in about 1600. This volume contains the first complete English translation of the Nine Chapters, together with the illuminating commentary of Liu Hui written in the 3rd century AD and other early century commentaries and further insights provided by the translators. The Nine Chapters contains 246 problems and their solutions, which fall into nine categories that are firmly based on practical needs. There are methods for solving problems in areas such as land measurement, construction, agriculture, commerce, and taxation, while the Chinese commentators provide the algorithms needed to solve the problems, and explanations of how the algorithms work. The translators' commentary provides clear and accessible background material for the Western reader, explanations of technicalities, and notes on the treatment of similar or identical mathematical problems in other countries. This first, full-English translation gives us an idea of the distinctive style and important contributions that have been made by traditional Chinese mathematics.