Alternative to "God Created the Integers" by Stephen Hawking

[FabianS]

Alternative to "God Created the Integers" ~ Stephen Hawking

Hi! I was thinking about buying a decent book covering the history of mathematics (from a fairly technical point of view), and "God Created the Integers" by Stephen Hawking seemed to be the perfect book. However, after having read some reviews, turns out it's not all that great (there are a lot of typos, no index, some important mathematicians are left out, etc.).

I wanted to know if there were any other books which were similar to "God Created the Integers". The one's I've found are not as in depth (only 2-4 pages per mathematician, for example).

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[fresh_42]

Jean Dieudonné has written some good books about the history of mathematics, resp. of some branches. Not all of them are available in English, but I can definitely recommend them.

 

[The Bill]

"An Introduction to the History of Mathematics" by Howard Eves, "Journey Through Genius" by William Dunham, and "The History of Mathematics" by David Burton are all quite good.

 

[Buzz Bloom]

Hi Fabian:

I recommend Men of Mathematics by E.T. Bell (1937). It has biographies about mathematicians from Zeno to Poincare as well as a discription of their contributions.

Regards,
Buzz

 

[MidgetDwarf]

Not to sure since I have not read or seen these books. But Morris Kline: Mathematical Thought From Ancient to Modern Times. Katz: History Of Mathematics.

I believe an instructor here on PF teaches a math history course based on Katz book.