A Cultural History of Mathematics in the Early Modern Age

A comprehensive history of numbers in the Early Modern Age

A Cultural History of Mathematicsin the Early Modern Age covers the period from 1450 to 1687, a time marked by increasing interplay between science and society. Classical writing on science which had been lost and Arabic thinking which was new both percolated into the West, fertilizing new ideas and giving birth to what has been called the “Scientific Revolution”. From artisanal workshops to academic institutions, mathematicians thrived. And, with the development of symbolic algebra and infinitesimal calculus, mathematics became one of the major tools for describing and understanding the world.

The six volume set of the Cultural History of Mathematics explores the value and impact of mathematics in human culture from antiquity to the present. The themes covered in each volume are everyday numeracy; practice and profession; inventing mathematics; mathematics and worldviews; describing and understanding the world; mathematics and technological change; representing mathematics.

Jeanne Peiffer is Senior Scientist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, affiliated to the Centre Alexandre-Koyré, Paris, France. Volker R. Remmert is Professor of History of Science at the University of Wuppertal, Germany.

Volume 3 in the Cultural History of Mathematics set.
General Editors: David E. Rowe, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany, and Joseph W. Dauben, City University of New York, USA.