Who were the creators of our complicated mathematical systems of today, and how did these men arrive at their theories? Here, in concise, readable language, are the stories of the outstanding mathematicians throught the centuries.

Euclid was a Greek, who contributed to some of our basic geometric theories; a hundred years later came Archimedes, whose work in number theories and plane geometry was surprisingly modern. Aryabhata, from India, and al-Khwarismi, an Arab, introduced the Hindu number system to the western world. In the seventeenth century, Descartes laid the foundations of mathematical physics, and Newton invented the calculus. Lagrange, an eighteenth century figure, helped establish the metric system. In the next century, Gauss's work on the modern number theory was far ahead of his time, and, at about the same period, Galois made revolutionary changes in the theory of equations. Mathematical geniuses of our century include Wiener, "the father of automation," and Von Neumann, one of the foremost experts on computers in the United States.

From this impressive array of creative men stems the entire history of mathematics. Mrs. Stonaker has caught the excitement of these men at work, in terms that are clearly understandable to young readers.

From the dust jacket