This is the story of the most aesthetic and influential geometric figure in the entire history of the universe.

This is a small collection of 12 highly technical historical essays.  The emphasis is on the genius of the work, and there are only very short descriptions of the lives of the mathematicians covered (Hippocrates, Euclid, Archimedes, Heron, Cardano, Newton, the Bernoullis, Euler, and Cantor).  These essays very clearly and directly describe exactly what was outstanding about the mathematics considered, and gives one a real sense of the creative nature of mathematical discovery.  This is a very entertaining and highly recommended book.

A brilliant and entertaining book.  It is both accessible to the general reader as well as clearly explaining the central ideas behind the evolution of mathematics.  The scope is at least as wide as any other history of math, starting in Egypt, evolving through Greece, China, India, Arabia, Europe, and North America, up to post-World War II mathematics.  However, even though it covers so much territory, this book does not skimp on significant details or lucid explanations in its 700+ pages.  It reads like an exciting adventure, and is one of the best of its genre.  Highly recommended.

This 2 volume work gives a grand overview of math's history from prehistoric times to the 18th century.  Volume 1 traces a chronological path from prehistory to China, India, Babylon, Egypt, Greece and Alexandria, China and Japan, Persia and Arabia, the European Middle Ages, and the highly productive 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.  Volume 1 traces this evolution, but does not delve deeply into the concepts themselves.  Volume 2 addresses concept development more directly in certain fundamental areas of mathematics: number systems, geometry, algebra, trigonometry, and calculus.  The story is presented in a scholarly and entertaining manner, but lacks some depth, perhaps due to the broad scope of its presentation.  However, this is one of the few books that includes material from the Orient bringing it into relation with European mathematical development, and it is very interesting in that regard.

This is the most engaging and entertaining history of mathematics ever written.  If you think that math history is dry, then this is the book that will change your mind.  This masterpiece traces the evolution of ideas from ancient times to the Greeks through the Hindus and Moslems and back into Europe to start modern math in the early 1600's.  And this is where the real story begins and continues for another 464 pages to give an in-depth, personal, and highly opinionated look at how mathematical ideas developed up to the early 20th century.  The exposition draws you into the struggle between competing ideas, helps free your mind from the notion that mathematical thinking is cast in stone, and is a tribute to man's creativity.  If you only read one history of mathematics, this should be it.

This is the only book we know of covering this topic in some depth.  But it lacks a great deal of rigor in its presentation, and is noticeably lacking a time line for the texts, discoveries, and people it discusses.  Nevertheless, it presents a coherent view of the very early geometry (3000-2000 BC) of the Vedas.

This interesting book gives a detailed analysis of known Egyptian mathematical papyri that preceeded Greek geometry by more than 1000 years.  The author discusses what they reveal about the extent Egyptian geometry that provided later inspiration for the Greeks.  This is a wonderful historical book about the roots of mankind's knowledge.

Archimedes is considered the greatest of Greek mathematicians.  He understood limits and integration 18 centuries before Newton and Leibniz, and was amazingly close to inventing calculus.  This collection contains his surviving manuscripts translated by the renowned Thomas Heath (noted for his translation of Euclid's 13 books).

This book describes the ancient society from which logic and deductive thought were born.  It goes far beyond just geometry, and explores the historical evidence about Pythagoras and his followers.  Some consider them as mystic philosophers speculating about the structure and nature of the universe: matter, music, numbers, and geometry.  Their significance is overwhelming in that they represent the first documented appearance of deductive logic in the history of man's evolution.  Thus, the Pythagoreans are the spring from which mathematics flowed.  This book presents all material known about them.

Archimedes is regarded as the greatest of the Greek mathematicians and physicists.  He understood limits and integration 18 centuries before Newton and Leibniz, and was amazingly close to inventing calculus.  This book describes 10 of his most significant discoveries, presented in modern notation, but using Archimedes original techniques.  Topics covered include: the lever, floating bodies, spirals, the sphere, computing pi, and more.  An introductory chapter is a short biography of his life.

This book is a stimulating study about the evolution of deductive thinking in Greek geometry.  It is not really concerned about the mathematics, and the emphasis is on linguistics, the psychology of cognition, and the nature of thought.

"Conics" consisted of 8 Books written around 200 BC, and this is a translation of the first three.  It is considered the most important work on conic sections written in antiquity and one of the most influential works in all of mathematics.

Plato founded his Academy to promote geometry a century before Euclid.  This scholarly work carefully examines remaining historical evidence to reconstruct mathematical thought at the time.  This is an archeological dig into man's abstract mind, uncovering a lost civilization.

This is the first literal English translation of the first edition of the original text of the advanced part of the most important work on conic sections written in antiquity and one of the most influential works in all of mathematics. The original Greek text is lost, and this is based on the sole surviving Arabic translation made in the 9th century which has never been translated directly to English.

This 2 volume work is a detailed study of the evolution of mathematical concepts by the Greeks from about 600 BC (Thales) to 350 AD (Pappus).  Heath principally covers Greek geometry, but also studies the evolution of number systems and algebra culminating with Diophantus.  In addition, there is a discussion of the influence from the Egyptians that preceeded the Greeks.  Rather than just being a linearly ordered chronology, this work looks at the evolution of specific topics, for example the classic problems of squaring a circle, trisecting an angle, and doubling the cube.  Heath also has detailed analyses of the contents of the major written works: Euclid's "Elements", Apollonius' "Conics", Heron's "Metrica", Pappus' "Synagoge", and many others.  If you want the big picture, these books bring it all together.

This Anthology is the largest collection of ancient writings relating to Pythagoras and Pythagorean philosophy to ever appear in English.  It contains the four ancient biographies of Phythagoras and over 25 other Pythagorean writings.  The Pythagoreans represent the first documented appearance of deductive logic in the history of man's evolution, and are the spring from which all mathematics flowed.  This source book is a required addition to the library of all philosophers who want to understand the roots of Western civilization.

This is the definitive modern English translation (in 3 Volumes) of Euclid's Elements.  Volume 1 covers Books I and II of Euclid.  Volumes II and III cover all the other of Euclid's 13 Books.  This is a complete unabridged translation which includes analysis and commentary about each definition, postulate, and proposition.  Detailed references are given for all the major Greek geometers whose work comprised Euclid's Elements.  These are polished scholarly books.

This entertaining book explores the work of five giants in the history of geometry: Euclid, Descartes, Gauss, Einstein, and Witten.  They represent five major milestones in the evolution of our concepts of space: the first platonic abstractions, analytic geometry, differential geometry, relativity theory, and modern string theory.  This is more a popularization than a rigorous treatment, but has enough concrete material to be of interest to readers at any level from high school to professional geometers.

Euler is considered by some to be the greatest modern mathematician.  He was extremely prolific and had an incredible scope, making breakthrough discoveries in numerous fields of math: number theory, infinite series, algebra, geometry, and more.  He is regarded as the father of modern analysis.  This book presents a collection of his greatest inventions, described in an clear and entertaining manner, with enough mathematical detail to truly appreciate his genius and the beauty of his mathematics.