Significant Figures
The Lives and Work of Great Mathematicians

Ian Stewart's books can be excellent, but sometimes he forgets that much maths that excites mathematicians produces from the mere mortal a response of 'So what?' When he's on form, though, he's very good - and in this book he definitely hits the spot. Inevitably with a book like this, giving short su......more

I remember reading Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari, who I actually enjoy. In a statement that was both shocking and disappointing, Harari said that he could not imagine why on Earth he would need to learn geometry or thermodynamics once we live in an intelligent world. This was an uncharacteristicall......more

"Significant Figures" describes the lives of most prominent 25 mathematicians throughout the world and ages, and Ian Stewart examines their contribution. As a person who read a lot of Stewart's books this one repeats itself comparing with other book: same idea, same words and same people. Though mat......more

Generally felt like a list of Wikipedia pages WITHOUT enough mathematical organization. As the title suggests, "Significant Figures" is an interesting book for people who enjoy biography of the great mathematicians and their major breakthroughs. I did gain much insight on the chronological history of......more

Libro che fornisce brevi sintesi delle vite e delle opere di importanti matematici. Mancano a parer mio bestie sacre come: Laplace, Pascal, Leibniz. In particolare Leibniz lo avrei gradito per il rapporto con Newton (che non era proprio un santo, e non viene menzionato). Ho apprezzato la descrizione......more