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Mathematics Research Guide

Books & Library Catalogs

The Library Catalog lists all of the books videos and CDs at the Cal Poly Humboldt University Library.  

A keyword search is usually the best way to begin.  When you find items of interest, check the catalog records for subject headings or other terms to modify your search.

Call Numbers: Library of Congress Classification

Special Periods

  • Dilke, Oswald A.W. Mathematics and Measurement. Berkeley, Calif. : University of California Press ; London : British Museum, c1987. (QA 22 D55 1987)
  • Duren, Peter, ed. A Century of Mathematics in America. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society, c1988-c1989. (QA 27 U5 C46 1988) - 3 volume set - covers the 20th century.
  • Eves, Howard. Great Moments in Mathematics (after 1650). Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America, 1981. (QA 21 E796 1981)
  • Eves, Howard. Great Moments in Mathematics (before 1650). Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America, 1980. (QA 21 E797)
  • Fowler, D. H. The Mathematics of Plato's Academy : a New Reconstruction. Second edition. Oxford : Clarendon Press ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1999. (QA22 F69 1999)
  • Grattan-Guinness, I., ed. From the Calculus to Set Theory, 1630-1910: an Introductory History. London: Duckworth, 1980. (QA 21 F77)
  • Gray, Jeremy. Plato's Ghost : the Modernist Transformation of Mathematics. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c2008. (QA 26 G73 2008) -also available as an electronic book.
  • Gray, Jeremy. Worlds Out of Nothing : a Course in the History of Geometry in the 19th Century. New York ; London : Springer, 2007. (QA 443.5 G73 2007)
  • Hay, Cynthia, ed. Mathematics from Manuscript to Print, 1300-1600. Oxford : Clarendon Press ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1988. (QA 23 M28 1988)
  • Heath, Thomas Little. A History of Greek Mathematics. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1965. (QA 22 H4) - 2 volume set (v.1 covers Thales to Euclid, v.2 covers Ariistarchus to Diophantus)
  • Hofmann, Joseph E. Classical Mathematics: a concise history of the classical era in mathematics. New York : Philosophical Library, [1960, c1959]. (QA 24 H643)
  • Lam, Lay Yong and Ang, Tian Se. Fleeting Footsteps: Tracing the Conception of Arithmetic and Algebra in Ancient China. Revised edition. Singapore ; River Edge, NJ : World Scientific, c2004. (QA 27 C5 L35 2004) -also available as an electronic book.
  • Kolmogorov, A.N., ed. Mathematics of the 19th Century: Mathematical Logic, Algebra, Number Theory, Probability Theory. Basel ; Boston : Birkhäuser Verlag, 1992. (QA 26 M27813 1992)
  • Neugebauer, Otto. The Exact Sciences in Antiquity. Second edition. Providence, RI: Brown University Press, 1957. (QA 22 N36 1957)
  • Struik, Dirk J. A Source Book in Mathematics, 1200-1800. Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1969. (QA 21 S88)
  • Swetz, Frank J. Capitalism and Arithmetic: The New Math of the 15th Century. La Salle IL: Open Court, 1987. (QA 23 S94 1987) Includes the first English translation of the Treviso Arithmetic of 1478, the earliest printed work on arithmetic.
  • Van Brummelen, Glen. The Mathematics of the Heavens and the Earth : the Early History of Trigonometry. Princeton ; Oxford : Princeton University Press, c2009. (QA 24 V36 2009)

General Histories

Selected books in the history of mathematics are listed below. This list does not attempt to include many books on the history of specific topics within mathematics, for example, numerical analysis or differential equations. Use the Library Catalog to find books on specific topics of interest.

  • Anglin, W.S. Mathematics: A Concise History and Philosophy.  NY:  Springer-Verlag, 1994. (QA 21 A54 1994)
  • Ball, Walter W.R. A Short Account of the History of Mathematics. NY: Dover, 1960. (QA 21 B18 1960) Reprint of 1908 edition.
  • Bell, Eric T. The Development of Mathematics. NY: McGraw-Hill, 1940. (QA 21 B4)
  • Boyer, Carl B. History of Mathematics. Second edition. NY: Wiley, 1989. (QA 21 B767 1989)
  • Burton, David M.  The History of Mathematics : An Introduction.  Sixth edition. Boston : New York : McGraw-Hill, c2007.  (QA 21 B96 2007)
  • Cajori, Florian A. A History of Mathematical Notations.  La Salle, IL: The Open Court Pub. Co., 1928-29. (QA 21 C135) - 2 volumes
  • Cajori, Florian A. History of Mathematics. Fifth edition. Providence, R.I. : AMS Chelsea, 1991. (QA 21 C15 1991)
  • Calinger, Ronald, ed. Classics of Mathematics. Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1995. (QA 21 C55 1995) An anthology of selected writings of leading mathematicians from classical antiquity through the early twentieth century.
  • Campbell-Kelly, Martin, ed. The History of Mathematical Tables : From Sumer to Spreadsheets. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2003. (QA 47 H57 2003)
  • Cooke, Roger.  The History of Mathematics : A Brief Course.  Second edition. New York : Wiley, c2005.  (QA 21 C649 2005)
  • Dunham, William. The Mathematical Universe: An Alphabetical Journey through the Great Proofs, Problems, and Personalities. NY: Wiley & Sons, 1994. (QA 21 D785 1994)
  • Eagle, M. Ruth.  Exploring Mathematics through History.  New York : Cambridge University Press, 1995.  (QA 21 E24 1995)
  • Eves, Howard. An Introduction to the History of Mathematics. Sixth edition. Philadelphia: Saunders College Pub., c1990. (QA 21 E8 1990)
  • From Kant to Hilbert : A Source Book in the Foundations of Mathematics.  Compiled by William Ewald.  New York : Oxford University Press, 1999.  (QA 8.6 F77 1999) - 2 volume set. (Volume I and Volume II are also available as electronic books)
  • Grattan-Guinness, Ivor. The Norton History of the Mathematical Sciences : The Rainbow of Mathematics.  New York : W.W. Norton, 1998.  (QA 21 G695 1998)
  • Hawking, S.W. (Stephen W.) God Created the Integers : the Mathematical Breakthroughs that Changed History. Philadelphia, PA. : Running Press, c2005. (QA 21 G63 2005)
  • Hodgkin, Luke Howard. A History of Mathematics : from Mesopotamia to Modernity. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, c2005. (QA21 .H68 2005eb - electronic book)
  • Joseph, George G. The Crest of the Peacock: the Non-European Roots of Mathematics. Third edition. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 2011. (QA 21 J684 2011)
  • Kenschaft, Patricia C. Change is Possible : Stories of Women and Minorities in Mathematics. Providence, R.I. : American Mathematical Society, c2005. (QA 10.5 K46 2005)
  • Knoebel, Arthur. Mathematical Masterpieces : Further Chronicles by the Explorers. New York : Springer, c2007 (QA 21 M358 2007)
  • Krantz, Steven G. An Episodic History of Mathematics : Mathematical Culture through Problem Solving. [Washington, DC] : Mathematical Association of America, c2010. (QA 21 K73 2010)
  • Lanczos, Cornelius. Space Through the Ages: The Evolution of Geometrical Ideas from Pythagoras to Hilbert and Einstein. London: Academic Press, 1970. (QA 21 L28)
  • Mankiewicz, Richard. The Story of Mathematics. Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2000. (QA 21 M35 2000)
  • McLeish, John. Number. NY: Fawcett Columbine, 1992. (QA 21 M38 1992)
  • Mikami, Yoshio. The Development of Mathematics in China and Japan. New York: Chelsea, 1961. (QA 27 C5 M5 1961) - Reprint of the 1913 edition.
  • Oxford Handbook of the History of Mathematics. Edited by Eleanor Robson and Jacqueline Stedall. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2009 (QA 21 O94 2009)
  • Simmons, George F. Calculus Gems : Brief Lives and Memorable Mathematics. Washington, DC : Mathematical Association of America, c2007 (QA 21 S56 2007) - An interesting book that has two parts. The first part is "a biographical history of mathematics from the earliest times to the late nineteenth century."
  • Stillwell, John. Mathematics and Its History. Second edition. NY: Springer, 2002. (QA 21 S84 2002)
  • Swetz, Frank, ed.  From Five Fingers to Infinity : A Journey through the History of Mathematics.  Chicago : Open Court, c1994.  (QA 21 F76 1994)
  • Wardhaugh, Benjamin. How to Read Historical Mathematics. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c2010. (QA 21 W324 2010) - This book introduces readers to the analytical questions historians ask when deciphering historical texts.
  • Wilson, Alistair Macintosh.  The Infinite in the Finite.  New York : Oxford University Press, 1995.  (QA 21 W385 1995)
  • Young, L.C. Mathematicians and Their Times: History of Mathematics and Mathematics of History. NY: Elsevier North-Holland, 1981. (QA 21 Y68)

Call Numbers for Mathematics Books

Our Library uses the Library of Congress Classification System to assign call numbers. In this system, the first two or three lines of a call number identify the subject of a book or other item.  The main call number used for Mathematics is QA.

QA   Mathematics
 
QA 1-43        General
QA 47-59      Tables
QA 71-90       Instruments and machines
QA 101-145   Elementary mathematics.  Arithmetic
QA 150-272   Algebra
QA 273-280   Probabilities.  Mathematical statistics
QA 299-433   Analysis
QA 440-699   Geometry. Trigonometry. Topology
QA 801-939   Analytic mechanics

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How To Videos

The following short videos will show you how to accomplish some basic research tasks.