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  • Textbook
  • © 1979

Calculus: A Historical Approach

Authors:

  1. William McGowen Priestley

    1. Department of Mathematics, The University of the South, Sewanee, USA

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Part of the book series: Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics (UTM)

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Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvii
    PDF

  2. Tokens from the Gods

    • William McGowen Priestley
    Pages 1-27

  3. The Spirit of Greece

    • William McGowen Priestley
    Pages 28-49

  4. Sherlock Holmes Meets Pierre de Fermat

    • William McGowen Priestley
    Pages 50-77

  5. Optimistic Steps

    • William McGowen Priestley
    Pages 78-107

  6. Chains and Change

    • William McGowen Priestley
    Pages 108-147

  7. The Integrity of Ancient and Modern Mathematics

    • William McGowen Priestley
    Pages 148-193

  8. A Circle of Ideas

    • William McGowen Priestley
    Pages 194-244

  9. House of Integrals

    • William McGowen Priestley
    Pages 245-298

  10. The Central Height

    • William McGowen Priestley
    Pages 299-351

  11. Romance in Reason

    • William McGowen Priestley
    Pages 352-375

  12. Back Matter

    Pages 376-443
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About this book

This book is for students being introduced to calculus, and it covers the usual topics, but its spirit is different from wh at might be expected. Though the approach is basically historical in nature, emphasis is put upon ideas and their place-not upon events and their dates. Its purpose is to have students to learn calculus first, and to learn incidentally something about the nature of mathematics. Somewhat to the surprise of its author, the book soon became animated by a spirit of opposition to the darkness that separates the sciences from the humanities. To fight the speil of that darkness anything at hand is used, even a few low tricks or bad jokes that seemed to offer a slight promise of success. To lighten the darkness, to illuminate some of the common ground shared by the two cultures, is a goal that justifies almost any means. It is possible that this approach may make calculus more fun as weil. Whereas the close ties of mathematics to the sciences are weil known, the ties binding mathematics to the humanities are rarely noticed. The result is a distorted view of mathematics, placing it outside the mainstream of liberal arts studies. This book tries to suggest gently, from time to time, where a kinship between mathematics and the humanities may be found.
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Keywords

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Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Mathematics, The University of the South, Sewanee, USA

    William McGowen Priestley

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Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Calculus: A Historical Approach

  • Authors: William McGowen Priestley

  • Series Title: Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-9349-8

  • Publisher: Springer New York, NY

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Springer-Verlag New York 1979

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-4684-9349-8Published: 06 December 2012

  • Series ISSN: 0172-6056

  • Series E-ISSN: 2197-5604

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Topics: Analysis, Algebra

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Buy it now

eBook USD 74.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

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