Mathematics in Western Culture

résumé

contents

I Introduction. True and False Conceptions, 3
II The Rule of Thumb in Mathematics, 13
III The Birth of the Mathematical Spirit, 24
IV The Elements oi Euclid, 40
V Placing a Yardstick to the Stars, 60
VI Nature Acquires Reason, 74
VII Interlude, 89
VIII Renewal of the Mathematical Spirit, 99
IX The Harmony of the World, no
X Painting arid Perspective, 126
XI Science Born of Art: Projective Geometry, 144
XII A Discourse on Method, 159
XIII The Quantitative Approach to Nature, 182
XIV The Deduction of Universal Laws, 196
XV Grasping the Fleeting Instant: The Calculus, 214
XVI The Newtonian Influence: Science and Philosophy, 234
XVII The Newtonian Influence: Religion, 257
XVIII The Newtonian Influence: Literature and Aesthetics, 272
XIX The Sine of G Major, 287
XX Mastery of the Ether Waves, 304
XXI The Science of Human Nature, 322
XXII The Mathematical Theory of Ignorance: The Statistical Ap-proach to the Study of Man, 340
XXIII Prediction and Probability, 359
XXIV Our Disorderly Universe: The Statistical View of Nature, 376
XXV The Paradoxes of the Infinite, 395
XXVI New Geometries, New Worlds, 410
XXVII The Theory of Relativity, 432
XXVIII Mathematics: Method and Art, 453
SELECTED REFERENCES, 473
INDEX, 477