Notable Mathematicians - Hardcover

Similar to other Gale titles such as Notable Twentieth Century Scientists [RBB F 1 95], this work offers biographical information on approximately 303 mathematicians throughout recorded history. There are more than 60 women mathematicians as well as 15 Asian American, African American, and Hispanic American mathematicians and approximately 30 mathematicians from countries outside North America and Western Europe. The criteria for inclusion are significant discoveries or inventions, overall impact on mathematical development, major awards received (for example, the Wolf Prize or the Copley Medal of the Royal Society), educational or organizational leadership, and notable "firsts," such as the invention of calculus.

Entries, which are arranged alphabetically, contain an entry head with name, birth and death dates, nationality and ethnicity where applicable, and primary field(s) of specialization. This is followed by a biographical essay that can range from 450 to 1,500 words and is written for the general reader (high-school level and without a math background). See also references are indicated by bold type. A list of selected writings by the subject, including individual papers, research works, lectures, and autobiographies, and a bibliography of further readings, with citations to both print and electronic sources, complete the entry.

Appended to the A^-Z section are a time line of important events in the history of mathematics; a selected list of major mathematical awards and prizes through 1997; and a selected bibliography of books, periodicals, and Web sites of general interest. There are several indexes: fields of specialization, gender, nationality, and subject. Line drawings and photographs enhance the text.

Although information on many of these individuals can be found elsewhere (another recent title, the Marshall Cavendish Biographical Encyclopedia of Scientists [RBB My 15 98] has entries for 50 mathematicians), high-school, public, and college libraries needing more coverage of mathematicians will welcome this volume from Gale. The compilers explain that in 1989 the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics recommended that students be taught the history of the discipline and the diverse culture that contributed to the development of mathematics--Notable Mathematicians was conceived to fill the need for such a work. The entries are easy to read, and the appendix and indexes are most helpful. For added coverage of women, libraries can also acquire Notable Women in Mathematics: A Biographical Dictionary (Greenwood, 1998), which covers 59 women from antiquity to the present, with emphasis on the twentieth century; there is overlapping coverage of approximately 25 women in the Gale and the Greenwood books.

Grade 9 Up-Alphabetically arranged profiles of more than 300 male and female mathematicians from diverse cultures and historical periods. Two-to-four page signed entries describe elements of the individuals' academic and personal lives; highlight some of their writings; and provide lists for further reading that include books, periodicals, and Web sites where appropriate. Black-and-white photographs or reproductions of more than 170 figures appear throughout. In addition to standbys such as Blaise Pascal, Pythagoras, and Rene Descartes are mathematicians such as Karen Uhlenbeck, a geometer who abstracts ideas from physics and streamlines them so that they can be used in other fields, and Fan Chung, a number theorist who devised a way of encoding and decoding signals that is crucial to digital cellular phones. A useful list of awards and prizes is appended. A 35-page timeline presents mathematical milestones from 50,000 B.C.E. to the present day. Cross-references are boldfaced. Indexes provide access by mathematical specialization, nationality/ethnicity, gender, and subject. A solid resource.
P. A. Dolan, Illinois State University, Normal
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.