Mathematics did not spring spontaneously into life, with rules set in stone for all time. Its story is closely linked with the problems of measurement and money that have often driven its progress. Quite Right explains how mathematical ideas have gradually emerged since prehistoric times, so that
they pervade almost every aspect of life in the twenty-first century.
Many histories of mathematics focus on the activities of those for whom mathematics itself was the motivation. Professor Biggs adopts a wider viewpoint. Making use of new discoveries of artefacts and documents, he
explains the part that mathematics has played in the human story, and what that tells us about the nature of mathematics. The story reveals the power and beauty of mathematical concepts, which often belie their utilitarian origins. The twin paradigms of logical justification and algorithmic
calculation recur throughout the book. No other book tells the story of mathematics, measurement, and money in this way.
Includes secontions on:
* The origins of calculation in ancient and medieval times
* How mathematics provides answers that are right, and what that means
* The impact of trade and the use of money on the development of mathematical algorithms
* The use of mathematics for secure communications
* How money and information are linked in our electronic world
Quite Right is a fascinating story, suitable for anyone interested in the
mathematical foundations of the world we live in.
Norman Biggs is Professor (Emeritus) of Mathematics at the London School of Economics. He is the author of 12 books, including a perennial best-selling book Discrete Mathematics (Oxford University Press). He has a special interest in
measurement and was Chair of the International Society of Weights and Scales Collectors from 2009-14. He served as a Vice President of the British Society for the History of Mathematics in 2014 and is an active member of the British Numismatic Society.
1. The Unwritten Story
2. The Dawn of Civilization
3. From Tax and Trade to Theorems
4. The Age of Algorithms
5. The End of the Middle Ages
6. A New World of Mathematics
7. Mathematics Ascending
8. Taking a Chance
9. Modelling and Measuring
10. Mathematics and
Money in the Age of Information
11. Can Mathematics Keep Us Safe
There are no Instructor/Student Resources available at this time.
Norman Biggs has been a university lecturer for over 50 years. After graduating from the University of Cambridge he became an Assistant Lecturer at Southampton University in 1963, and subsequently taught at Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics. Since 2006 he has been Emeritus
Professor at the LSE and has continued to give lectures on information theory and the history of mathematics.
Making Sense - Margot Northey and Joan McKibbin
