Men of Mathematics

First published in 1937, this lovely book is a true classic. In two volumes Bell brings to life 30 or so mathematicians, from Archimedes to Cantor. When first reading the book many years ago I had remembered some of the names from school and college, but only as labels to theorems or equations, and I felt taken into a delightful new realm of knowledge – I could now think of Fermat, Lagrange, Gauss, and Riemann as people. And I began to want to know more about the scientists whose names I had heard in school and college. Bell’s book had… show more.

First published in 1937, this is a classic in its field: still, so far as I know, the most comprehensive one-volume collection of math biographies. Bell’s 42 subjects range from Zeno of Elea (fifth century B.C.) to Georg Cantor (1845-1918) and include all eight Bernoullis. Nor is the book as exclusionary as its title suggests: Sofia Kovalevskaya shares a chapter with Karl Weierstrass.

I read the book in my teens and retain that early affection. However, I love this book the way we love family members: with differences of opinion and occasional irritations (some of which I aired in Unknown… show more.

A fascinating collection of brief biographies of some of the greatest mathematicians to have ever lived. This book really brings the history of mathematics to life.The biographies were not intended to be complete. They emphasize amusing and romantic anecdotes, to create a more humanistic picture of the main characters, while giving the essence of their mathematical achievements.