The Secret Lives of Numbers: A Global History of Mathematics & its Unsung Trailblazers

An authoritative, accessible and revisionist history of maths that reveals the vital contributions of mathematicians from across the world and of all genders The protagonists of this book won't be familiar to most readers. Pythagoras, Newton and Descartes seldom feature. Instead, it highlights the remarkable lives and works of a diverse group of pioneers, who fought millennia of oppression to leave a spectacular legacy of mind-melting ideas and theorems. Kitagawa and Revell bring to life the stories of mathematicians from every continent, from the brilliant Arabic scholars of the 9th Century 'House of Wisdom'; to the pioneering African-American mathematicians of the 20th Century; from the first female mathematics professor (from Russia); to the "lady computers" around the world who revolutionised our knowledge of the night sky. The authors want passionately to inspire people of every background to believe that mathematics is a subject for them. This ground-breaking book changes how we view our mathematical past, casting fresh light on the possibilities for the future.

About the Author :
Tomoko L. Kitagawa (Author) Dr Tomoko L. Kitagawa is a historian specialising in the mathematical cultures of Europe, East Asia, and South Africa at Oxford University. After a stint as a diplomat at the United Nations in New York, she received her PhD in history from Princeton University. She has taught at Harvard University and held research positions at UC Berkeley, University of Cambridge and the Max Planck Institute. Her first book, Japanese History Abroad (2012), was a national bestseller in Japan. She was selected as one of the '100 most influential people in Japan' by Nikkei Business Publishing and one of the '100 most amazing Japanese women' by Japan's leading publisher, Shincho. Based in Oxford, she works as an occasional broadcaster, with appearances on Netflix, CNN, the History Channel, and the BBC. Timothy Revell (Author) Dr Timothy Revell is a science journalist and lapsed mathematician. He currently works as Culture and Comment Editor at New Scientist. As a reporter and editor, he specialises in technology and mathematics, covering everything from artificial intelligence to the Abel prize. He also currently runs New Scientist's diversity internship scheme. He often appears on the BBC radio show 'The Naked Scientists', including in a slot answering listener's questions about mathematics.

Review :
Lively, satisfying, good at explaining difficult concepts A delightful journey through some of the lesser known highways and byways of mathematics Modern technology is built on the work of those who pursued maths for maths' sake. This book is a clever tribute to those brilliant, if sometimes erratic, lives A delightful journey through some of the lesser known highways and byways of mathematics that brings to the fore many fascinating figures who have been unjustly forgotten. A treasury of lost historical tales where you can find the story of a Keralan mathematician who might have discovered calculus centuries before Newton and Leibniz or the eleventh-century Chinese origins of binary in the I Ching The history of math is typically taught from an exclusively Greco-Eurocentric perspective as a parade of great men. This significantly distorts reality. Mathematics has been invented in one form or another by every culture on Earth, and the exclusion of women and people of color from traditional narratives is particularly glaring. Kitagawa and Revell do an excellent job of broadening our view to the far more vibrant, collaborative, diverse, and interesting history . . . Mathematics is the most powerful tool humans ever invented, and this book is a welcome corrective to our understanding of how it came to be