From ancient Babylon to the last great unsolved problems, Ian Stewart brings us his definitive history of mathematics. In his famous straightforward style, Professor Stewart explains each major development - from the first number systems to chaos theory - and considers how each affected society and changed everyday life forever.



Maintaining a personal touch, he introduces all of the outstanding mathematicians of history, from the key Babylonians, Greeks and Egyptians, via Newton and Descartes, to Fermat, Babbage and G del, and demystifies maths' key concepts without recourse to complicated formulae. Written to provide a captivating historic narrative for the



non-mathematician, Taming the Infinite: The Story of Mathematics is packed with fascinating nuggets and quirky asides, and contains 100 illustrations and diagrams to illuminate and aid understanding of a subject many dread, but which has made our world what it is today.