A thought on Ancient Math

Question

Is there a good site that I can see/ learn all the great work of mathematicians from all over the world? I am interested in reading those ancient book in a modern language. Suggestion? "Knowledge of Pascal's triangle has also been shown to have existed in China centuries before Pascal,[2] such as by Shen Kuo."~Wikipedia. Isn't it interesting? I think i will get inspired and enjoy at least some of the old theory.

Answer 1

Heres a link to a timeline of mathematics:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_mathematics

You can then search for the work of the individual mathematicians.

Or you could pick a topic and research its history, when I was younger I was fascinated with $\infty$ and I found it incredibly interesting how the concept was perceived and how it changed throughout history. [Cantor's work is awesome]

Answer 2

You can take a look at :

• Benjamin Wardhaugh, How to Read Historical Mathematics (2010)

supplemented with some historical surveys, like :

• John Fauvel & Jeremy Gray (editors), The History of Mathematics : A Reader (1987)

• Jacqueline Stedall, Mathematics Emerging : A Sourcebook 1540-1900 (2008)

• Jacqueline Stedall (editor), The Oxford Handbook of the History of Mathematics (2009).

Then you cam move on to modern translation with commentary of ancient books/manuscripts, like :

• Jens Hoyrup, Jacopo da Firenze's Tractatus Algorismi and Early Italian Abbacus Culture (2007)

• Barnabas Hughes (editor), Fibonacci's De Practica Geometrie (2008)

• Muriel Seltman & Robert Goulding, Thomas Harriot's Artis Analyticae Praxis : An English Translation with Commentary (2007)

• Frank Swetz, Legacy of the Luoshu : The 4000 Years Search For the Meaning of the Magic Square of Order Three (2008)