The Italian mathematician Mario Pieri (1860-1913) played an integral part in the research groups of Corrado Segre and Giuseppe Peano, and thus had a significant, yet somewhat underappreciated impact on several branches of mathematics, particularly on the development of algebraic geometry and the foundations of mathematics in the years around the turn of the 20th century. This book is the first in a series of three volumes that are dedicated to countering that neglect and comprehensively examining Pieria (TM)s life, mathematical work and influence in such diverse fields as mathematical logic, algebraic geometry, number theory, inversive geometry, vector analysis, and differential geometry.

The Legacy of Mario Pieri in Geometry and Arithmetic introduces readers to Pieria (TM)s career and his studies in foundations, from both historical and modern viewpoints, placing his life and research in context and tracing his influence on his contemporaries as well as more recent mathematicians. The text also provides a glimpse of the Italian academic world of Pieri's time, and its relationship with the developing international mathematics community. Included in this volume are the first English translations, along with analyses, of two of his most important axiomatizationsa "his postulates for arithmetic, which Peano judged superior to his own; and his foundation of elementary geometry on the basis of point and sphere, which Alfred Tarski used as a basis for his own system.

Combining an engaging exposition, little-known historical information, exhaustive references and an excellent index, this text will be of interest to graduate students, researchers and historians with a general knowledgeof logic and advanced mathematics, and it requires no specialized experience in mathematical logic or the foundations of geometry.

Winner of the 1983National Book Award

..".a perfectly marvelous book about the Queen of Sciences, from which one will get a real feeling for what mathematicians do and who they are. The exposition is clear and full of wit and humor..." - The New Yorker (1983National Book Award edition)

Mathematics has been a human activity for thousands of years. Yet only a few people from the vast population of users are professional mathematicians, who create, teach, foster, and apply it in a variety of situations. The authors of this book believe that it should be possible for these professional mathematicians to explain to non-professionals what they do, what they say they are doing, and why the world should support them at it. They also believe that mathematics should be taught to non-mathematics majors in such a way as to instill an appreciation of the power and beauty of mathematics. Many people from around the world have told the authors that they have done precisely that with the first edition and they have encouraged publication of this revised edition complete with exercises for helping students to demonstrate their understanding. This edition of the book should find a new generation of general readers and students who would like to know what mathematics is all about. It will prove invaluable as a course text for a general mathematics appreciation course, one in which the student can combine an appreciation for the esthetics with some satisfying and revealing applications.

The text is ideal for 1) a GE course for Liberal Arts students 2) a Capstone course for perspective teachers 3) a writing course for mathematics teachers. A wealth of customizable online course materials for the book can be obtained from Elena Anne Marchisotto ([email protected]) upon request.

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