The Story of Numbers: How Mathematics Has Shaped Civilization

The Story of Numbers-How mathematics has shaped civilization by a Canadian, Professor John McLeish in 1991 is a little 267-page book which provides a nice introduction to the history of the origin of number systems and the basic concepts of mathematics. His distinctly global perspective is refreshing, especially since my last history class was Western Civ. in 1971 had a particularly Western slant. This book is on a level that anyone with a good high school education can appreciate. In fact I would love to see a course in high schools and colleges that taught the history of math, and this would provide a good course outline. The book is well illustrated, and most of his examples could be followed by a nonmathmetician such as I am. The bibliography listed about 100 other books along similar lines, several of which I will probably obtain. This book is not quite as light reading as Innumeracy by John Paulos, but it does hold your attention. Each of the 18 chapters was relatively self-contained, and it was closer in style to Dr. Paulos' book, Beyond Numeracy. Overall, a good value for about $11. U.S. Enjoy. David Covey, M.D., Searcy, AR., U.S.A. 2/2/97.