Geometrical Landscapes ─ The Voyages of Discovery and the Transformation of Mathematical Practice

Alexander (formerly a professor of history, philosophy, and history of science at Stanford U. and U. of California at Los Angeles) contends that the mathematical pioneers of the study of infinitesimals were able to confront the paradoxes and difficulties of their field through the adoption of new ways of seeing the practice of mathematics. He argues that they started to define mathematics using the same rhetoric of discovery that characterized the narratives of geographical explorers such Martin Frobisher and Sir Walter Raleigh. Then focusing on Thomas Hariot as a pivotal link between mathematics and the exploration enterprise, Alexander looks at Hariot's work, as well as the work of those who followed him. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)