Men Of Mathematics By E.t Bell Pdf Free Download

Open Preview

See a Problem?

We'd love your help. Let us know what's wrong with this preview of Men of Mathematics by Eric Temple Bell.

Thanks for telling us about the problem.

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Community Reviews

· 1,956 ratings · 84 reviews

Start your review of Men of Mathematics

Dec 26, 2012 Purushotham rated it it was amazing

I came across this outstanding book in my schooldays, and read it then, not understanding much, but enough to know that I had got hold of something awesome. It made the subject of maths and the mathematicians come to life. Maths class at school was not as boring as it used to be, after realizing that Archimedes and Newton were real, flesh-and-blood men.

Then I read the book again, while at engineering college. This time around, I was familiar with at least the names of the important mathematician

Then I read the book again, while at engineering college. This time around, I was familiar with at least the names of the important mathematicians, and knew a little about their work. After this second reading, I felt more than a little love for the subject of maths, when I learned about the interesting lives that the mathematicians had led, and the often curious ways in which they had created the mathematics that we now took so much for granted. I realized that in the world of the intellect, Cauchy, Riemann, Newton, Liebnitz, Gauss, Abel and all the rest of them were true heroes. Not only that, many of them did their magnificent work in the face of desperate odds against them, like Abel and Galois. Knowing all this made the subject of mathematics come alive to me, and to this day, mathematics remains a thing of beauty to me. For this wonderful gift, I am forever indebted to E. T. Bell's Men of Mathematics.

...more

Jun 19, 2011 Yi rated it it was amazing

A must read for anybody interested in the life of Mathematicians, the history of Math, or Math itself. The author has managed to make a seemingly dull subject lively and fun to read. Highly recommended.

Feb 12, 2015 Philipp rated it really liked it

A history of mathematics up to Georg Cantor, who died in 1918, the book itself was published in 1937. Each chapter summarises the life of a mathematician (sometimes two, if their lives are intertwined), with about a quarter of each chapter being reserved for details on one or two discoveries.

In tone it reminded be a lot of Russell's History of Western Philosophy - there's the British humor and the strong opinions, some people may be put off by this. It's definitely no unbiased retelling of the history of mathematics (furthermore, about 80 years have passed. Many of these stories may turned out to have been falsehoods by now [and in looking up this book, many of them are, but that doesn't detract from their fun]).
Some quotes to show the humor:

As a matter of temperament some find the Laplacian conception of an eternally stable solar system repeating the complicated cycle of its motions time after time for ever and ever as depressing as an endless nightmare. For these there is the recent comfort that the Sun will probably explode some day as a nova. Then stability will cease to trouble us, for we shall all quite suddenly become perfect gases.

Cauchy's life and character affect us like poor Don Quixote's — we sometimes do not know whether to laugh or to cry, and compromise by swearing.

But on the utterly imbecilic advice of his physician he began meddling in politics "to benefit his nervous system." If ever a more idiotic prescription was handed out by a doctor to a patient whose complaint he could not diagnose it has yet to be exhumed.

Some things I learned:

- many famous mathematicians were ridiculous child prodigies in their youngest ages, Gauss being the most famous example, discovering formulas at the age of 9, finishing Disquisitiones Arithmeticae at the age of 21 (!!!) in Latin (!!!); William Rowan Hamilton spoke 13 languages by the time he was 13 years old (E. T. Bell gets very angry about this "waste of time", he could have been doing mathematics!). It may make you look at your own life with a hint of having already wasted it.

- others did terrible in traditional systems - like Poincaré, who nearly failed the mathematical parts of his Bachelor's degree and was only admitted because of his previous mathematical importance

- funding of science changed a lot with the French revolution - before that, good mathematicians got their money from benevolent rulers, after that, they either had to give lessons or were (sometimes poorly) employed by universities

- transfinite numbers are weird

- and much more, it's a long book

The biggest drawback, and here the book shows its age, is the very dry style of the mathematical parts, maybe I'm too spoiled by pop-science writing, maybe it's the age. Sometimes, the mathematics is rather simple and you wonder why the author takes so much time to expand on these points (the age?), sometimes it's so short that you have to go look it up on Wikipedia. These definitely take their time if you want to read them properly.

But then again, to quote the author (on a different occasion):

The choice of such phraseology is not merely stereotyped pedantry. There is a reason for its use, and careful writers mean exactly what they say when they assert that "we can find, etc" They mean that they can do what they say.

Recommended for: People into mathematics; people who think a book about mathematics is boring (you may want to skip or skim the mathematical parts, but it's your loss); fans of British humor

Not recommended for: People without patience, as it took me a few weeks to read this; People who need the truth and nothing but the boring truth

...more

Dec 23, 2014 Kaśyap rated it liked it

The main intent here is biographical rather than mathematical. But this isn't a very good account. He doesn't distinguish between facts and anecdotes and the author always lets his prejudices get in the way of narrative. I guess it just reflects the times in which it was written. The parts i liked the most of this book were the mathematical parts. The main intent here is biographical rather than mathematical. But this isn't a very good account. He doesn't distinguish between facts and anecdotes and the author always lets his prejudices get in the way of narrative. I guess it just reflects the times in which it was written. The parts i liked the most of this book were the mathematical parts. ...more

3/5 for historical accuracy, 4/5 for culture. Ultimately, 3/5, but still highly recommendable.

The only problem I have with Bell is that the characterisation of mathematics may put off some impressionable young mathematician-to-bes. Bell, most likely inadvertently, gives a sense that, if one is not going to be a first-rate, world-class mathematician, then they should not bother taking up the art.

On the other hand, Bell's enthusiasm for mathematics is infectious. Many have criticised his tendency

3/5 for historical accuracy, 4/5 for culture. Ultimately, 3/5, but still highly recommendable.

On the other hand, Bell's enthusiasm for mathematics is infectious. Many have criticised his tendency to embellish and from a historian's point of view Bell does more harm than good. But as a piece of mathematical culture it remains very important -- think Romance of the Three Kingdoms in Chinese literature, except not as fictionalised. So long as you take some of the historical accounts with a grain of salt, Men of Mathematics will be a pleasure to read, even for the non-mathematician. In fact, I would say that the gravitas Bell attributes to certain eras, ideas and theorems of mathematics is only an approximation, for their universal significance is truly ineffable. So in that sense, Bell is actually being modest.

My final qualm with it is that it doesn't really capture the collaborative spirit that is even more pronounced in modern mathematics. In this sense Men of Mathematics is outdated, and perhaps a tad too romantic for my taste. Nonetheless, it is a classic, to inspire at least one more generation of mathematicians (mine!).

...more

When I was younger, I liked this book a lot. Later, however, it is easy to notice that there are several great mathematicians who are curiously omitted simply because they were female, and that some of the biographies have a few liberties taken with them to be more dramatic. As another reviewer said, this is a product of the times in which it was written. Still, a readable overview of the sometimes overly dramatic lives of the greatest male contributors to mathematics, but by now there are many When I was younger, I liked this book a lot. Later, however, it is easy to notice that there are several great mathematicians who are curiously omitted simply because they were female, and that some of the biographies have a few liberties taken with them to be more dramatic. As another reviewer said, this is a product of the times in which it was written. Still, a readable overview of the sometimes overly dramatic lives of the greatest male contributors to mathematics, but by now there are many more accurate and complete texts on the history of mathematics. ...more

Dec 31, 2009 Mouly rated it really liked it

A book about the lives and contributions of the greatest mathematicians up to early 19th century; the book starts with some . There are many threads running through the book. It shows how mathematics the subject itself evolved from its infancy. But mostly the book is about the mathematician and his work. Before I started the book, I wanted to know the common denominator across these great minds. The only common characteristic that all of them had was a true love for subject. And most of them sta A book about the lives and contributions of the greatest mathematicians up to early 19th century; the book starts with some . There are many threads running through the book. It shows how mathematics the subject itself evolved from its infancy. But mostly the book is about the mathematician and his work. Before I started the book, I wanted to know the common denominator across these great minds. The only common characteristic that all of them had was a true love for subject. And most of them started learning mathematics from their childhood.

To prove the greatness of a mathematician, his works have to be explained. And the author has done a fabulously job of conveying the greatness of each mathematician without too much mathematical details. Mind you there is still plenty of mathematics in each chapter, I would guess about 40%. I didn't understood many mathematical proofs, but still was able to appreciate the contribution of the mathematician.

I have been reading this book on and off for more than a year. It is not the lightest book I have read, but definitely one of the best non-fictions I have picked.

...more

Apr 20, 2012 Hrothgar rated it it was amazing

E.T. Bell is by no means unbiased, but he doesn't ever claim to be. His writing reflects his captivating wit and seemingly endless knowledge; it is anyone's pleasure to read. E.T. Bell is by no means unbiased, but he doesn't ever claim to be. His writing reflects his captivating wit and seemingly endless knowledge; it is anyone's pleasure to read. ...more

Feb 16, 2018 Dipanshu Gupta rated it really liked it

I've always been interested in the life of Physicists and Mathematicians, so this was a entertaining read for me. What strikes out for me is that Bell tries to portray these men as gods; outworldly people capable of doing inhuman tasks. No doubt these men are legends in their own right but this praise is not justified. But I loved reading about the little stories behind these men's lives. Since it was written in the 1930s, the author has been very reserved about lot of things. A similar book wri I've always been interested in the life of Physicists and Mathematicians, so this was a entertaining read for me. What strikes out for me is that Bell tries to portray these men as gods; outworldly people capable of doing inhuman tasks. No doubt these men are legends in their own right but this praise is not justified. But I loved reading about the little stories behind these men's lives. Since it was written in the 1930s, the author has been very reserved about lot of things. A similar book written contemporarily would have been much spicier. Because let's face it, people reading this book have a vested interest in Mathematics and know most of the men discussed in the book. We were looking for stories about these men and not an explanation of the math they did, an explanation, which in my opinion. I should rate it 3.5 but since the author did the arduous task of combining so many eras of Mathematics, I'll be generous in the rounding-off. ...more

We generally think of mathematicians as some old, senile professors who think that common people don't understand them that they are just good for teaching. But the mathematicians have been politicians, administrators, churchmen, soldiers and whatnot. This book is not about mathematics but rather than the life of mathematicians in general.

Mathematicians: more humane than humans of any craft ever be - the ones who believed in logic deduced from fundamentals and stood for them even if the world s

Mathematicians: more humane than humans of any craft ever be - the ones who believed in logic deduced from fundamentals and stood for them even if the world stood against!

#MenOfMathematics #ETBell #Completed #Book_No_12 #Obsessed #Emotional #Humans

...more

Jul 28, 2019 A Mig rated it really liked it

An impressive body of work on the life of famous (and less famous) mathematicians from antiquity to the early 20th century. We discover a melting pot of lives, poor and rich, happy and sad, uneventful and rich of adventures. It is a pleasure to discover all those mathematicians from that personal-life angle and how mathematical discoveries are made within the socio-political sphere of the Time. It feels, however, that more than simple knowledge in mathematics is needed to truly enjoy this book a An impressive body of work on the life of famous (and less famous) mathematicians from antiquity to the early 20th century. We discover a melting pot of lives, poor and rich, happy and sad, uneventful and rich of adventures. It is a pleasure to discover all those mathematicians from that personal-life angle and how mathematical discoveries are made within the socio-political sphere of the Time. It feels, however, that more than simple knowledge in mathematics is needed to truly enjoy this book and the importance of each mathematician's contribution. A brief overview of the evolution of Mathematics would have been welcome to help follow the flow. ...more

May 21, 2019 Ayush Bhat rated it it was amazing

Whenever I feel down or I am distracted, whenever I loose interest in Studies (Math and Computer Science), I read this book, sure shot way to get re-motivated.

Feb 03, 2020 Kuldeep Charan rated it really liked it

Onely word that i have for this book is awesome....it does an amazing work in providing the history, the personality behind the great minds of descartes, Pascal, newton, leibniz, euler,Fermat's last theorem, Gauss, Riemann, poincare, and many others! 1937 though, so it doesn't include Andrew wiles solutions and Formats last theorem among modern things. One of the finest book out there. Check it for fantastic novel concerns mathematics. Onely word that i have for this book is awesome....it does an amazing work in providing the history, the personality behind the great minds of descartes, Pascal, newton, leibniz, euler,Fermat's last theorem, Gauss, Riemann, poincare, and many others! 1937 though, so it doesn't include Andrew wiles solutions and Formats last theorem among modern things. One of the finest book out there. Check it for fantastic novel concerns mathematics. ...more

First 1/3: 4 starts
Later 2/3: 2 stars
I guess that averages out to a 2 & 2/3 star rating, although it feels like I slugged through the boring parts for so long that I'm rounding down.

The biggest point against Men of Mathematics is that is truly the Men of Mathematics. And it really should have been White European Men of Mathematics. While it is true that most of modern mathematics was discovered by European men *cough* imperialism *cough*, there were some people of color and women who some important work. Like Ada Lovelace, the first computer scientist. Or Emmy Noether, a landmark abstract algebraist whose theories underpin all of modern physics. Or, you know, the Arabs who invented Algebra. Or the Indians who invented zero. It's not as if there was a time period to focus on, the book opens on ancient Greece and then skips straight to Descartes.

I guess this book is a product of its times. It was written in 1937. Ideas like including women on the merit of their accomplishments weren't invented yet.

Aside from the imperialist and sexist attitude of the author, it was quite enjoyable! For some of it at least. The book is structured as a series of mini biographies of famous mathematicians. There are 23 chapters (intro + 22 mathematicians) from Zeno to Descartes to Gauss to Eisenstein to…if you're bored already this book is not for you. My main issue is that if you are not already familiar with the characters and their accomplishments, the writing will not make you interested. I know this because I was already familiar with the characters in the 1/3 of the chapters I liked and unfamiliar with the 2/3 of the characters in the chapters I didn't.

I learned some neat tidbits, and some pretty cool math, but mostly I get to say I read the damn thing and have it look impressive on my shelf. Men of Mathematics, where you have to be white, male, and french or german, and a genius as 22 to get a few pages jotted down about you. Oh and you'll probably die poor and sick and young anyway.

...more

Sep 19, 2009 Juan rated it really liked it

slow going, but fascinating, because he describes how mathematics has evolved over time, and you get some idea of how remarkable these discoveries were. Starts with Pythagoras. I I'm as far as Newton now. Some math, but not a lot. Very opinionated writer, which really comes through when he is discussing mathematicians who also were theologians, like pascal and Newton. He has no time whatever for those endeavors. slow going, but fascinating, because he describes how mathematics has evolved over time, and you get some idea of how remarkable these discoveries were. Starts with Pythagoras. I I'm as far as Newton now. Some math, but not a lot. Very opinionated writer, which really comes through when he is discussing mathematicians who also were theologians, like pascal and Newton. He has no time whatever for those endeavors. ...more

I can see why this book inspired Freeman Dyson. The book contains bio-sketches of more than 27 mathematicians, arranged chronologically in 29 chapters. The book starts with Zeno of Elea (ca. 490 - 430 BC) and ends with George Cantor (1845 - 1918). It successfully compiles the lives of the 27 great mathematicians, depicting interesting aspects of their lives. An outstanding book by a great mathematician. Highly recommended!!

Dec 03, 2007 David rated it it was amazing

As history, this book should be taken with some salt. As a book about mathematical characters and the character of mathematics, though, I think Men of Mathematics is hard to beat. I first read this when I was in middle school or high school, and while it wasn't the only thing that got me into mathematics, it was certainly an influence. As history, this book should be taken with some salt. As a book about mathematical characters and the character of mathematics, though, I think Men of Mathematics is hard to beat. I first read this when I was in middle school or high school, and while it wasn't the only thing that got me into mathematics, it was certainly an influence. ...more

Jun 16, 2012 David Kim rated it it was amazing

This is one of the ones I keep on my shelf for easy access rather than in a box in the closet. Each chapter is a self-contained bio with personal info, the mathematician's place in history, and life in the context of his/her times. Laid back, not like other scientific bios that can be annoyingly stuffy. One of my favs. Just now finding out there's a part 2. Hot damn! This is one of the ones I keep on my shelf for easy access rather than in a box in the closet. Each chapter is a self-contained bio with personal info, the mathematician's place in history, and life in the context of his/her times. Laid back, not like other scientific bios that can be annoyingly stuffy. One of my favs. Just now finding out there's a part 2. Hot damn! ...more

Mathematics has evolved over centuries. It is unlike any other branch of science where someone proposes a theory and years later it is proved wrong. When something is accepted in mathematics, it is forever in there. This book provides an insight into the lives of those great mathematicians who have shown the world new ways and opened new dimensions in various fields of mathematics.

Extremely biased against protestants. Author seems to be an angry Catholic.

May 05, 2016 Hangci Du rated it it was amazing

A wonderful biography, however a little bit old, it is not with Ramanujan, Von Neumann, Hilbert, Godel...

I can get some new ideas.

I recently finished reading Eric Temple Bell's Men of Mathematics, which looked at the history of mathematics from the days of the Babylonians through to the dawn of the twentieth century. As the subtitle of his quasi-historical work states, Bell looks at "the lives and achievements of the great mathematicians from Zeno to Poincare." He wrote the book in 1937 and it was posthumously reprinted in 1965, the version I enjoyed reading. Although Bell's book of biographical sketches inspired many peop I recently finished reading Eric Temple Bell's Men of Mathematics, which looked at the history of mathematics from the days of the Babylonians through to the dawn of the twentieth century. As the subtitle of his quasi-historical work states, Bell looks at "the lives and achievements of the great mathematicians from Zeno to Poincare." He wrote the book in 1937 and it was posthumously reprinted in 1965, the version I enjoyed reading. Although Bell's book of biographical sketches inspired many people to study mathematics, historians of mathematics do not consider it as completely accurate. Bell in his preface said he was not writing history, but a summary of the mathematicians' humanity and their seminal achievements. It is an excellent read and I heartily recommend it.

The world's great mathematicians have played a major part in the evolution of scientific and philosophic thought. Many believe the three greatest mathematicians of all time include Archimedes, Newton, and Gauss. In fact, some historians postulate that if the Greeks took their cue from Archimedes instead of Euclid, Plato, and Aristotle, they might have advanced the era of modern mathematics of Newton and physical science of Galileo during the 17th century by 2,000 years.

Modern mathematics began with two great advances - analytic geometry in 1637 with Rene Descartes (1596-1650) and calculus with Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) and Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716) around 1666. Descartes took that final step with his Cartesian coordinate system in building out analytic geometry "with its structure of geometrical proof, discovery, and invention." Descartes can be said to have invented geometry and he documented his mathematical findings in an appendix to his great work Method (1637). Newton and Leibniz independently developed calculus in order to explain the physics of nature. Both built upon the incredible insight of Archimedes regarding the idea of limiting sums from which the integral calculus emerges.

The entire development of mathematics owes its progress to the ongoing battle between the notion of the discrete and the idea of the continuous. The use of the discrete, captured by the numbers 1,2,3,..., attempts to define the natural world atomistically, as individual elements put together to describe the whole. The world of the discrete belongs to algebra, symbolic logic, and the theory of numbers.

The continuous, on he other hand, tries to describe nature as undulating, coursing, and flowing phenomena, such as the rise and fall of the tides, the orbits of the planets, and the movement of electricity. Such continuity takes us into the mathematical world of the calculus and to a huge array of applications common to the fields of science and technology - the world of mathematical analysis. Engineers make much use of the tools of mathematics to solve practical problems.

The appearance of continuous mathematics can be attributed to Pythagoras's failed attempt to describe the world solely with discrete mathematics. What we call the Pythagorean Theorem proves the point. If two sides of a triangle have a length of one unit, the diagonal produced with geometry yields an answer of the square root of 2. This number cannot be derived with a finite number of measurements simply because the square root of 2 is an irrational number, a series of never-ending numbers needed to describe the length. Some of the Greeks must have been less tolerant, as the young mathematician who raised the issue of irrational numbers was thrown overboard and killed. The followers of the discrete did not want to be derailed by the ideas of the continuous.

Other biographical sketches Bell shares with his readers include:
- Fermat, who founded the theory of numbers, shared in the creation of the theory of probability, and developed both Fermat's Theorem and Fermat's Last Theorem,
- Pascal, who cofounded the theory of probability, invented the first calculating machine, carried on Toricelli's work on atmospheric pressure, and solved many aspects of the cycloid,
- The Bernoulli family, which produced eight mathematicians over three generations, the greatest of which was Daniel who developed principles leading to the conservation of energy postulate and is best known for his work in pure and applied fluid motion,
- Euler, who was brilliant in both discrete and continuous mathematics, has never been surpassed as an algorist. He developed a solution to the three-body problem useful for navigation and made mechanics and analytical science,
- Lagrange, who was close friends with the great chemist Lavoisier, used methods of approximation to develop six-body solutions in celestial mathematics,
- Laplace, who was a mathematical astronomer, proved the stability of the Solar System in his era and developed the theory of the potential, key to understanding the basics of electromagnetism,
- Monge, the inventor of descriptive geometry used for all mechanical drawings and graphical methods that helped make mechanical engineering a reality,
- Fourier developed the theory of heat conduction, which led to useful ideas on boundary-value problems, concepts critical to the development of electrical engineering and acoustical engineering,
- Poncelet developed projective geometry and introduced the principles of continuity and duality,
- Gauss, considered the Prince of Mathematicians, applied rigor to mathematical analysis, inventing the law of reciprocity, the method of "least squares" - the Gaussian law of normal distribution of errors in statistics and the associated bell-shaped curve that is familiar to many, developed the laws of biquadratic and cubic reciprocity, discovered the double periodicity of certain elliptical functions, unified cartesian and polar coordinates by noting that multiplication by i has the effect of rotation through a right angle, laid a mathematical theory of electromagnetism and coinvented an electric telegraph, developed differential geometry, and built up conformal mapping,
- Cauchy introduced rigor into mathematical analysis and the combinatorial, which led to the theory of groups
- Abel and Jacobi jointly developed the theory of elliptic functions and the Hamilton-Jacobi equations contributed to quantum mechanics,
- Cayley developed the theory of invariants of great importance to the theory of relativity, the notion of geometry of "higher space" (or of n dimensions), and the theory of matrices, which proved most useful for Heisenberg when he used matrix multiplcation for his work in quantum theory 67 years later,
- Weierstrass created a theory of irrational numbers to address the concepts of limits, continuity, and covergence,
- Boole's original work added mathematical logic to the domain of algebra,
- Hermite solved the general equation of the fifth degree using elliptical functions instead of radicals, which proved to be impossible as a solution set, and developed the concept of transcendance of the number e (2.71828...),
- Kronecker combined the the theory of numbers, the theory of equations, and elliptic functions into one pattern, and
- Reimann, one of the most original mathematicians of modern times, defined curvature and recognized its invariance, and devised processes for the investigation of quadratic differential forms, both which found their physical interpretation in Einstein's theory of relativity.

Read Bell's summary of these great mathematicians and learn about their humanity, appreciate their strengths and frailties, and admire their seminal achievements.

Good reading!

...more

It must be difficult to write biographies of mathematicians. Their excellence in math does not mean they are interesting subjects otherwise. However, Bell has a done a very good job. My favorite passages:
"Mathematics is the most exact science, and its conclusions are capable of absolute proof. But this is so only because mathematics does not attempt to draw absolute conclusions. All mathematical truths are relative, conditional." – Charles Proteus Steinmetz

"Of all the ancients Archimedes is the

"Of all the ancients Archimedes is the only one who habitually thought with the unfettered freedom that the greater mathematicians permit themselves today with all the hard-won gains of twenty five centuries to smoother their way, for he alone of all the Greeks had sufficient stature and strength to stride clear of the obstacles thrown in the path of mathematical progress by frightened geometers who had listened to the philosophers." (20)

"Give me a place to stand on and I will move the earth." – Archimedes (on levers)

Descartes spent his mornings lying in bed thinking, remembering is schoolboy days when the rector told him to do just that, and understanding that the quiet meditation the habit produced was responsible for his philosophy and mathematics. (37)

On Newton, "In all the history of mathematicsc Newton has had no superior (and perhaps no equal) in the ability to concentrate all the forces of his intellect on a difficulty at an instant's notice." (116)

Funny story at the court of Catherine the Great. Denis Diderot was trying to convert to atheism, and Catherine commissioned Euler to silence him, knowing how uncomfortable Diderot was with math. "Euler advanced toward Diderot, and said gravely, and in a tone of perfect conviction: 'Sir, (a+b to the nth) / n = x, hence God exists; reply!' It sounded like sense to Diderot. Humiliated by the unrestrained laughter which greeted his embarrassed silence, the poor man asked Catherine's permission to return at once to France." (147)

Euler calculated the complex mathematics of lunar motion entirely in his head. (150)

If you love mathematics, and want to learn the context and lives of the people who contributed to its development, this is a great source.

See my other reviews here!

...more

May 06, 2021 Brendan rated it liked it

Reading Bell is a bit like talking to an informed but credulous undergraduate mathematics student: he is so certain of the irrefutability of his logic and knowledge that he comes off as a bit of an asshole. That being said, he is a pleasant jerk and is able to weave together a very capable collection of biographies.

The main problem with this work is how chaotic the pacing is throughout. Gauss receives—deservedly—near 100 pages and others barely 10. While I understand the reasoning behind doing

The main problem with this work is how chaotic the pacing is throughout. Gauss receives—deservedly—near 100 pages and others barely 10. While I understand the reasoning behind doing it this way, the strong presence of Bell's personality forces me to confront his own disinterest when he writes some of his chapters (his chapter on Jacobi comes to mind) and overwhelms me when he decides to mind-read an ancient figure before going on a diatribe about anything that isn't pure math. With a better writer, this wouldn't be an issue, but I'm not sure that Bell is aware of the effect his writing has on the reader.

...more

Aug 11, 2017 Sandy Maguire rated it did not like it

Don't let the introduction of this book fool you! While the front-matter is enticing and exciting, the rest of the book fails to live up to these expectations. This book manages to make an exciting topic boring and hard to suffer through via a combination of flowery, say-nothing prose and a focus on the people rather than the math.

OK, I get it -- for the most part, readers do want people stories over math, but those are not the people who are going to be reading this book. Know your audience, Er

OK, I get it -- for the most part, readers do want people stories over math, but those are not the people who are going to be reading this book. Know your audience, Eric Temple Bell. I would not recommend this book in the slightest.

If you're looking for a book that presents the history of nerdy shit well, treat yourself to "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" and skip over this drivel.

...more

Jul 16, 2018 Robert rated it really liked it

I always liked math, but this was the first book which gave me a great idea of the scope of math. I probably read it when I was around 14-15.

It's very inspirational, although admittedly it contains very little actual math.

I later learned that it has been criticized for its lack of accuracy as E.T. Bell was not an expert on the history of mathematics.

Also, it came out in the early 1900s, so the many important mathematical developments since then are not dealt with.

But overall, this is a great ach

I always liked math, but this was the first book which gave me a great idea of the scope of math. I probably read it when I was around 14-15.

It's very inspirational, although admittedly it contains very little actual math.

I later learned that it has been criticized for its lack of accuracy as E.T. Bell was not an expert on the history of mathematics.

Also, it came out in the early 1900s, so the many important mathematical developments since then are not dealt with.

But overall, this is a great achievement, it really makes math come alive and seem really exciting, which I am sure was the main point.

...more

Jun 20, 2021 Darsh rated it liked it

3.5

Finally finished this giant book. I was mostly interested in the story of those mathematicians but E T Bell explained Math more than it was needed. This book could have written in two parts where one explains the life stories and other their contributions in the field. Over all good book. The stories were very interesting.

Aug 23, 2018 James Goldman rated it it was amazing

It's impossible to know how accurate his facts are, but E.T. Bell's vivid, curmudgeonly and wonderfully coherent telling of a few dozen life stories is too entertaining for an amateur math geek like me not to love. Take it with a grain of salt, I suppose, but it's one of my favorite story books. It's impossible to know how accurate his facts are, but E.T. Bell's vivid, curmudgeonly and wonderfully coherent telling of a few dozen life stories is too entertaining for an amateur math geek like me not to love. Take it with a grain of salt, I suppose, but it's one of my favorite story books. ...more

Not a great book

Becomes monotonous after a few chapters. Was hoping for more math and less criticism of the lives of mathematicians. Author is judgemental, likely an atheist and homophobe.

Sep 26, 2017 Liedzeit rated it really liked it

Just as good as I remembered it. I like that when in doubt he tells us the anecdote even if there are no proofs. I want Evariste Galois to have led exactly the life that Bell gives us.

Eric Temple Bell (February 7, 1883 – December 21, 1960) was a mathematician and science fiction author born in Scotland who lived in the U.S. for most of his life. He published his non-fiction under his given name and his fiction as John Taine.

News & Interviews

If you've never gone on a short story reading binge, we highly recommend it as a regular practice. Short fiction plays by different rules than...

"[As a young teenager] Galois read Legendre]'s geometry from cover to cover as easily as other boys read a pirate yarn." — 3 likes

"Poincaré [was] the last man to take practically all mathematics, pure and applied, as his province. ... Few mathematicians have had the breadth of philosophic vision that Poincaré had, and none in his superior in the gift of clear exposition." — 2 likes

More quotes…

Welcome back. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account.