James Joseph Sylvester - Life and Work in Letters (Paperback)

In the folklore of mathematics, James Joseph Sylvester (1814-1897) is the eccentric, hot-tempered, sword-cane-wielding, nineteenth-century British Jew who, together with the taciturn Arthur Cayley, developed a theory and language of invariants that then died spectacularly in the 1890s as a result of David Hilbert's groundbreaking, 'modern' techniques. This, like all folklore, has some grounding in fact but owes much to fiction. The present volume brings together for the first time 140 letters from Sylvester's correspondence in an effort to establish the true picture. It reveals - through the letters as well as through the detailed mathematical and historical commentary accompanying them - Sylvester the friend, man of principle, mathematician, poet, professor, scientific activist, social observer, traveller. It also provides a detailed look at Sylvester's thoughts and thought processes as it shows him acting in both personal and professional spheres over the course of his eighty-two year life. The Sylvester who emerges from this analysis - unlike the Sylvester of the folkloric caricature - offers deep insight into the development of the technical and social structures of mathematics.

General

Imprint:	Oxford UniversityPress
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	2013
First published:	April 2013
Authors:	Karen Hunger Parshall
Dimensions:	233 x 156 x 19mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	340
ISBN-13:	978-0-19-967138-0
Categories:	Books > Medicine > General issues > History of medicine Books > Science & Mathematics > Mathematics > History of mathematics Books > Science & Mathematics > Science: general issues > History of science Books > Professional & Technical > Technology: general issues > History of engineering & technology
LSN:	0-19-967138-9
Barcode:	9780199671380

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