A Cultural History of Mathematics in the Modern Age

A Cultural History of Mathematics in the Modern Age covers the period from 1914 to today. Across the Twentieth Century, mathematics influenced two World Wars and the shape of modern warfare, nuclear technology, and the space age, while the certainties of mathematics were taken up by philosophers, artists, and writers. In the increasingly digital world of the Twenty-first Century, the exponential growth of mathematical knowledge has triggered major technological developments. Mathematical ideas now inform fundamental physical theories and technological models; even our social connectivity relies on mathematical algorithms.

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.

Tom Archibald is Professor of Mathematics at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada. David E. Rowe is Professor Emeritus of the History of Mathematics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany.

Volume 6 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.