BOOK REVIEW
STAMPING THROUGH MATHEMATICS by Robin J Wilson
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An Illustrated History of Mathematics Through Stamps Robin J. Wilson Postage stamps are an attractive
vehicle
for presenting mathematics and its development. For many years the
Robin
has presented illustrated lectures entitled “Stamping Through
Mathematics”
to school and college groups and to mathematical clubs and societies,
and
has written a regular “Stamp Corner” for the Mathematical
Intelligence. This book contains almost four
hundred
postage stamps relating to mathematics, ranging from the earliest forms
of counting to the modern computer age. Featured are many of the
mathematicians
who contributed to this story — influential figures such as Pythagoras,
Archimedes, Newton and Einstein — and some of the areas whose study
aided
this development — such as navigation, astronomy and art. The stamps appear enlarged and in
full
colour with full historical commentary and are listed in full at the
end
of the book. Robin J. Wilson is a Senior
Lecturer in
Mathematics at the Open University in the United Kingdom and a Fellow
of
Keble College, Oxford University. He is very involved with the
popularisation
of mathematics and has written and edited books on a variety of topics,
from graph theory and combinatorics via the Gilbert and Sullivan operas
to the history of mathematics. Published by Springer-Verlag, New
York,
Inc. |
