THIS is the first volume of Prof. Hancock's work and is intended as an introduction to the second volume. Its size shows that he is engaged in no light task. His object is to help in making the theory ...

Mathematics in Mesopotamia : Where did mathematics begin? ; Political history in Mesopotamia ; The number symbols ; Arithmetic operations ; Babylonian algebra ; Babylonian geometry ; The uses of ...

Imagine winding the hour hand of a clock back from 3 o’clock to noon. Mathematicians have long known how to describe this rotation as a simple multiplication: A number representing the initial ...

IT is almost a misfortune that Gauss and Smith were such consummate masters of mathematical style. Nearly everyone who writes on an arithmetical topic is tempted to imitate them, at least in their ...

In 1886 the mathematician Leopold Kronecker famously said, “God Himself made the whole numbers — everything else is the work of men.” Indeed, mathematicians have introduced new sets of numbers besides ...

You scrambled up a Rubik’s cube, and now you want to put it back in order. What sequence of moves should you make? Surprise: You can answer this question with modern algebra. You might remember ...