Dover Mathematics for the Non-mathematician

I throughly enjoyed this book, as someone who is trying to brush up and improve my understanding of mathematics, the best aspect of this book is the historical and chronological direction it takes, starting from the ancients greeks ending with modern day mathematical concepts such as non-euclidean geometry; but, more importantly, expressing why the fields of mathematics developed into what they are today by highlighting the problems they were trying to solve in their respective time periods, with mathematical examples present in most chapters.I do want to stress two predominant points: the first being, that this book does go into some depth of the topics it covers, but approaches topics in a more encompassing manner, in other words, if you are looking for very in depth content about a specific subject, then this book IS NOT for you. The second point being, a fair amount of the book deals with the history of mathematics, which is refreshing and insightful, but it is just a heads up.

I must admit I always had an allergy to Mathematics. Now I understand that was because I was never taught the underlying concepts and history of Mathematics. The author of this book clearly explains why Mathematicians must do things the way they do and the concepts and history behind the methods used in Mathematics. I have barely skimmed the surface of the book, but I already feel it has helped me to look at things with a new perspective. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who needs a strong foundation in Mathematics.

This is the book on mathematics I have been hoping to find for many years.For a non-mathematician who wants to get a good functioning overview and practical understanding of the whole subject this book is perfect. The book takes a historical and philosophical approach taking us from the Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, Hindus and Arabs up to the modern era and Einstein. However, despite all of the fascinating background historical information, this is not a history of mathematics, it is a real mathematics book and is full of clear examples of problems and additional exercises (with answers).The book progresses from logic, to arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, statistics, probability, and non-Euclidian geometries.The book is also rich on its discussions of mathematical applications and goes into some depth regarding astronomy, painting and perspective, physical laws of motion and gravity, and music.Morris Kline was Emeritus Professor of Math and New York University. The book was first published in 1967 and is a real classic.

The book is a journey through the all major human conceptual and analytical thinking that have more than anything else shaped our modern day world and at the same time it can serve as a manual for self-study. This rather unusual approach to his subject is doubtlessly a work of art in itself and can only increase our appreciation for Mathematics, that some modern-day physicists are proclaiming to be only substantial reality behind the Universe and phenomenon of existence...

Mathematics as seen from the outside. The author guides you through the history of mathematics and how one discover led to the other. He does it in an entertaining yet serious way.