A delightful tour of some of the intellectual highlights or mathematics. Not as focussed as the author's even better "Calculus gallery", but gives a wider range, though the book stops with Cantor's investigations into infinity. The stories in this book have been told many times, but they are told well here. ( )

In Journey through Genius, author William Dunham strikes an extraordinary balance between the historical and technical. He devotes each chapter to a principal result of mathematics, such as the solution of the cubic series and the divergence of the harmonic series. Not only does this book tell the stories of the people behind the maths, but it also includes discussions and rigorous proofs of the relevant mathematical results.

Praise for William Dunhams Journey Through Genius The Great Theorems of Mathematics "Dunham deftly guides the reader through the verbal and logical intricacies of major mathematical questions and proofs, conveying a splendid sense of how the greatest mathematicians from ancient to modern times presented their arguments." -Ivars Peterson Author, The Mathematical Tourist Mathematics and Physics Editor, Science News

"It is mathematics presented as a series of works of art; a fascinating lingering over individual examples of ingenuity and insight. It is mathematics by lightning flash." -Isaac Asimov

"It is a captivating collection of essays of major mathematical achievements brought to life by the personal and historical anecdotes which the author has skillfully woven into the text. This is a book which should find its place on the bookshelf of anyone interested in science and the scientists who create it." -R. L. Graham, AT&T Bell Laboratories

"Come on a time-machine tour through 2,300 years in which Dunham drops in on some of the greatest mathematicians in history. Almost as if we chat over tea and crumpets, we get to know them and their ideas-ideas that ring with eternity and that offer glimpses into the often veiled beauty of mathematics and logic. And all the while we marvel, hoping that the tour will not stop." -Jearl Walker, Physics Department, Cleveland State University Author of The Flying Circus of Physics

Exceptional explanatory mathematical work. ( )