And this is exactly the right conclusion. There is a greater depth to some of the historical facts surrounding the main players and at last we have an author who explains what some of the women mathematicians actually did that made them famous - Emmy Noether being the most recent. There's a problem loading this menu right now. The author has also done a wonderful job of bringing alive the many men and women who, through the centuries, created modern day abstract algebra. And this is exactly the right conclusion. Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Prime members enjoy FREE Delivery and exclusive access to music, movies, TV shows, original audio series, and Kindle books. : An Elementary Approach to Ideas and Methods. A pleasant, friendly guide to understanding the aesthetic and human side of Algebra. Please try again. Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2009. Algebraists broke new ground when they discarded the simple search for solutions to equations and concentrated instead on abstract groups. Unfortunately but inevitably John Derbyshire's "Unknown Quantity" is nowhere near as good as his previous pop math book "Prime Obsession", but in saying this I am praising the latter and not disparaging the former. There is somet. Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2009. And that’s just really what they are. The book is a history of algebra, aimed at a general (i.e. I really relate to the Derb. Curious characters and unfinished récits. Please try your request again later. Prime Obsession taught us not to be afraid to put the math in a math book. This is an engaging and thoroughly competent history. So grab your graphing calculators, slip out the slide rules, and buckle up! Free audio book that you can download in mp3, iPod and iTunes format for your portable audio player. Written for those among us who are unencumbered by a fear of formulae, Unknown Quantity delivers on its promise to present a history of algebra. He graduated from Princeton in 1873, and from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1874. Having read Prime Obsession by the same author I was expecting a a good read with this book and I was not dissapointed. This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 10, 2018. Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2011. To assist the reader who has never encountered higher undergradate mathematics or who has forgotten the content of courses taken long ago, Mr. Derbyshire has provided well written, concise MATH PRIMERS on such diverse topics as Cubic and Quartic Equations, Roots of Unity, Vector Spaces and Algebras, Field Theory, and Algebraic Geometry. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Good balance of history and detail for the amateur, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 30, 2015. magazine or listened to his "Radio Derb" audio show at the same magazine's Internet site knows that the author has the ability to interest the reader over a wide range of topics. As he did so masterfully in Prime Obsession, Derbyshire brings the evolution of mathematical thinking to dramatic life by focusing on the key historical players. "Unknown Quantity" still rates the full five stars. Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free. John Derbyshire's Prime Obsession, the story of the Riemann Hypothesis,was a mathematical tour de force but Mr. Derbyshire has done it again. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 15, 2009. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading. The sample of reviews on this site is small, but it has an unusual distribution - five out of six reviews (including this one) give 4 stars. Do you believe that this item violates a copyright? Also, something about the writing brought to mind the few O'Henry stories I read decades back, but I can't quite put my finger on it; it may be no more than a similar period in literature. May 17th 2005 He was pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church, New York City (1883-99), professor of English literature at Princeton (1899-1923), and U.S. minister to the Netherlands (1913-16). Contemporary Romance Rewrites 'Pride and Prejudice' with an Astrological Twist. He currently lives in Huntington, New York, with his wife and two children. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Unknown Quantity: A Real and Imaginary History of Algebra. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. If you have ever wondered how Algebra began and what groups, rings, fields, vector spaces, and algebras are then purchase this book. "Real" and "imaginary" refer to types of numbers, and Derbyshire (, John Derbyshire is a mathematician and linguist by education, a systems analyst by profession, and the celebrated author of Prime Obsession, his no-holds-barred mathematical biography of Bernhard Riemann, and the highly acclaimed 1996 novel Seeing Calvin Coolidge in a Dream. "Unknown Quantity" still rates the full five stars. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Please try again. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions. Please try again. There's a problem loading this menu right now. This dramatic shift in thinking revolutionized mathematics. Audio previews, convenient categories and excellent search functionality make BooksShouldBeFree.com your best source for free audio books. magazine or listened to his "Radio Derb" audio show at the same magazine's Internet site knows that the author has the ability to interest the reader over a wide range of topics. Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2011. But there is a missing ingredient. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, © 1996-2020, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Download The Unknown Quantity books, "Mild and sensitive Richard Hieck endured a quietly difficult childhood in Germany. The Unknown Quantity book. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 12, 2010. Refresh and try again. There is a greater depth to some of the historical facts surrounding the main players and at last we have an author who explains what some of the women mathematicians actually did that made them famous - Emmy Noether being the most recent. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. John Derbyshire discovers the story behind the formulae, roots, and radicals. John Derbyshire is in my view one of the best writers of popular maths books around. A primer chapter introduces some of the more demanding topics and certainly serves to make the book more informative and interesting. Perfect for history buffs and armchair algebra experts, Unknown Quantity tells the story of the development of abstract mathematical thought. John Derbyshire's Prime Obsession, the story of the Riemann Hypothesis,was a mathematical tour de force but Mr. Derbyshire has done it again. Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2006. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. I am currently reading this ( over half-way through ) and it is superb: Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 27, 2012. not particularly mathematical) readership. He cares, and so the reader cares too. I want to call this a book of fables. I'm an old-school tech-nerd (BS Engineering, 1973, learned the slide rule as a freshman; read Scientific American Magazine--especially Martin Gardner's "Mathematical Games" column in middle & high schools, etc.). There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. He has written an extraordinary book which traces the history of algebra from its beginnings in the Fertile Crescent nearly four thousand years ago to such modern day abstractions as Category Theory. Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) was an American Presbyterian clergyman, educator, and author. The sample of reviews on this site is small, but it has an unusual distribution - five out of six reviews (including this one) give 4 stars. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Unknown Quantity… Derbyshire strikes a good balance of mathematical history and maths, if the target audience is a semi-technical one. If you have ever wondered how Algebra began and what groups, rings, fields, vector spaces, and algebras are then purchase this book. Unknown Quantity heeds the lesson well. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. Please try again. (, John Derbyshire is a mathematician and linguist by education, a systems analyst by profession, and a celebrated writer in his spare time. There was a problem loading your book clubs. This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number. They were all enjoyable, and were set variously in such places as early twentieth century New York, the wilds of Canada, a medieval castle, and the plains outside Bethlehem. This is an engaging and thoroughly competent history. Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, includes free international wireless delivery via, © 1996-2020, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Read reviews from world’s largest community for readers. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. Please try again. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. Unknown Quantity: A Real and Imaginary History of Algebra. We’d love your help. These promotions will be applied to this item: Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. These Primers are scattered through the text and serve as guide-posts for the reader as she/he treks through the historical development of Algebra. John Derbyshire is introducing us to algebra through the ages -- and it promises to be just what his die-hard fans have been waiting for.