Product Description: This book tells the story of the Finnish-American mathematician Lars Ahlfors (1907-1996). He was educated at the University of Helsinki as a student of Ernst Lindelof and Rolf Nevanlinna and later became a professor there. He left Finland permanently in 1944 and was professor and emeritus at Harvard University for more than fifty years...read more

Product Description: This book is a biography of one of the most famous and influential living mathematicians, Peter Lax. He is virtually unique as a preeminent leader in both pure and applied mathematics, fields which are often seen as competing and incompatible...read more

Product Description: Scientist. Innovator. Rebel. For decades, Freeman Dyson has been regarded as one of the world's most important thinkers. The Atlantic wrote, "In the range of his genius, Freeman Dyson is heir to Einstein – a visionary who has reshaped thinking in fields from math to astrophysics to medicine, and who has conceived nuclear-propelled spaceships designed to transport human colonists to distance planets...read more

Product Description: This book is a comprehensive study of the life and mathematics of Walter Noll, who helped to create the mathematical tools of modern rational mechanics and thermodynamics. Noll is one of the brilliant mathematicians of the 20th century...read more

Relates how mathematical genius John Forbes Nash, jr., suffered a breakdown at age thirty-one and was diagnosed with schizophrenia, but experienced a remission of his illness thirty years later

Product Description: Benjamin Peirce was one of the principal contributors to nineteenth-century American science. He gained international prominence from his work on the perturbations of Neptune, and his Linear Associative Algebra was the first important mathematical research done by an American...read more

Product Description: Saunders Mac Lane was an extraordinary mathematician, a dedicated teacher, and a good citizen who cared deeply about the values of science and education. In his autobiography, he gives us a glimpse of his "life and times," mixing the highly personal with professional observations...read more

A definitive portrait of the eccentric mathematical genius and founder of the science of cybernetics traces the life and career of Norbert Wiener; his role in the evolution of computers, automation, and global telecommunications; and his ardent social activism and warnings about the human consequences of technology run amok. 30,000 first printing.

Relates how mathematical genius John Forbes Nash, Jr., suffered a breakdown at age thirty-one and was diagnosed with schizophrenia, but experienced a remission of his illness thirty years later.

Product Description: In this powerful and dramatic biography, Sylvia Nasar vividly re-creates the life of a mathematical genius whose career was cut short by schizophrenia and who, after three decades of devastating mental illness, miraculously recovered and was honored with a Nobel Prize...read more

Product Description: In this charming memoir, a renowned mathematician and winner of the American Book Award traces his career in mathematics from early lessons in horse racing and the realities of life to his adventures on the lecture circuit. A thought-provoking mix of autobiography, history, and insights into the role of mathematics in everyday life, this highly entertaining book will appeal to all readers...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Born in Budapest in 1903, John von Neumann grew up in one of the most extraordinary of scientific communities. From his arrival in America in the mid-1930s - with bases in Boston, Princeton, Washington and Los Alamos - von Neumann pioneered and participated in the major scientific and political dramas of the next three decades, leaving his mark on more fields of scientific endeavour than any other scientist. Von Neumann's work in areas such as game theory, mathematics, physics, and meteorology formed the building blocks for the most important discoveries of the century: the modern computer, game theory, the atom bomb, radar and artificial intelligence, to name just a few. From the laboratory to the highest levels of government, this biography offers a behind-the-scenes look at the politics and personalities involved in these world-changing discoveries. Written more than 30 years after von Neumann's untimely death at age 56, it was prepared with the co-operation of his family and includes information gained from interviewing sources across Europe and America. Norman Macrae seeks to offer a humanizing portrait of a man whose legacy still influences and shapes modern science and knowledge. (view table of contents)

Product Description: In 1957 Stephen Smale startled the mathematical world by showing that, in a theoretical sense, it is possible to turn a sphere inside out. A few years later, from the beaches of Rio, he introduced the horseshoe map, demonstrating that simple functions could have chaotic dynamics...read more

Follows the life and career of one of the twentieth century's most politically and economically influential engineers and inventors

Product Description: Jerzy Neyman received the National Medal of Science "for laying the foundations of modern statistics and devising tests and procedures that have become essential parts of the knowledge of every statistician." Until his death in 1981 at the age of 87, Neyman was vigorously involved in the concerns and controversies of the day, a scientist whose personality and activity were integral parts of his contribution to science...read more

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