Review: How to Read Historical Mathematics
Princeton University Press sent me a review copy of Benjamin Wardhaugh’s “How to Read Historical Mathematics.” I was excited to receive this book because I don’t know of any other books that provide a basic introduction to the subject.
From Wardhaugh’s web site:
Benjamin Wardhaugh is a historian; he does research and teaches at the University of Oxford, where since October 2007 he has been a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at All Souls College. He is a graduate of Cambridge, Oxford, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, and holds degrees in mathematics, music, and history. … He teaches the history of mathematics in various periods, in both the Mathematical Institute and the History Faculty at Oxford. A selection of the many things he has learned from his students will appear in his forthcoming textbook, How to Read Historical Mathematics.
How to Read Historical Mathematics is a quick read at 116 pages. Will you become an expert at reading historical Math after you read the book? Of course not. That will take years. What Wardhaugh does exceptionally well is to break the ice for readers interested in