The Crest of the Peacock

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: 'Crest of the Peacock' would be an excellent text for a history of mathematics course. It doesn't cover modern mathematics, but for previous periods it is so much better than many others available. For those brought up on Kline, Boyer, Struik, etc, this book is a refreshing challenge to the thinking we have grown up with. The author does not rant about the misconception of maths as a 'western invention', but instead presents a very readable and well argued history of mathematics in various cultures, and the links between them. I learnt far more from this book than I have from any other history of maths text. Highly recommended, particularly if you teach mathematics - there is so much material in here to liven up your classes.

Rating:
Summary: An Unusual and Original Book
Review: A monumental work and an outstanding contribution to the history of early mathematics and a rare peep into the much neglected, albeit enormous contributions of the muslim arab, indian, persian and chinese mathematicians in shaping the field of mathematics. Few people will even come close to the extent of research that George Gheverghese Joseph in unearthing the mathematical histories of non-european origins.

Rating:
Summary: A Truly Amazing Book
Review: I have just finished reading this book. It is an amazing experience for someone whose math stopped with the high school. The sections relating to the truly forgotten people - the original inhabitants of the Pacific region, the American continents and Africa- which is mainly contained in the last chapter entitled 'Reflections' were a revelation to me. Anybody who sees math as a truly global phenomena must read this book I would be most interested in knowing more about the author.

Rating:
Summary: Marvellous Book
Review: This is a book that is truly liberating. It should be read by each and everyone of us brought up on a diet of undiluted Eurocentrism. An amazing journey through history and cultures, one is left at the end of it wanting more. For someone with a limited and frightening exposure to school math, the level and literary clarity makes much of the math quite palatable. Would unreservedly recommend the book. I would be amazed if at the end of it one's perception of mathematics has not changed for ever.