From Library Journal
Berlinski (Black Mischief: The Mechanics of Modern Science, LJ 2/15/86) presents an unconventional work on the foundations of calculus. It is in part an informal history of the subject, the author inrerweaves the historical fragments with expository sections that explain the concepts from a modern viewpoint. He gives special attention (very appropriately) to the concept of limits and to several of the fundamental theorems that underpin calculus. He also shows how differential calculus deals with rates of change and how integral calculus works to determine areas under curves. Writing in a breezingly informal style, the author includes a plethora of humorous asides as well as a number of clearly fictitious anecdotes. At times his prose gets a bit too ripe, but the overall effect is to make the book quite readable. The work should be especially useful for providing perspective to college and advanced high school students currently learning calculus. Recommended for all public and college libraries.?Jack W. Weigel, Univ. of Michigan Lib., Ann Arbor
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.
Commentary Magazine, April 1997, David Guaspari
Calculus is a remarkable intellectual achievement--and a deeply consequential one, for it has made modern science, and especially modern physics, possible. Its essentials have been refined, over three centuries, into a structure of elegant economy. David Berlinski's Tour walks the general reader through this modern edifice, displaying the logical frame that supports it and the grandeur of the completed whole.
A Tour of the Calculus offers much to admire. It is a popular but honest explanation of beautiful and deep mathematics, refusing to patronize or demoralize readers with winks to reassure them that "getting it" does not matter. Berlinski clearly savors the comedy of teaching, and is consistently full of high spirits, whether he is opinionizing, salting his text with literary jokes, or otherwise cutting up.
Years ago, when a friend asked what need she had of calculus, I blustered, why do you need King Lear? A Tour of the Calculus, despite its idiosyncrasies, is a spirited and welcome attempt at a more adequate reply. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.
