Mathematics In The 19Th Century

This is the second revised edition of the first volume of the outstanding collection of historical studies of mathematics in the nineteenth century compiled in three volumes by A. N. Kolmogorov and A. P. Yushkevich. This second edition was carefully revised by Abe Shenitzer, York University, Ontario, Canada. The historical period covered in this book extends from the early nineteenth century up to the end of the 1930s, as neither 1801 nor 1900 are, in themselves, turning points in the history of mathematics, although each date is notable fo a remarkable event: the first for the publication of Gauss' "Disquisitiones arithmeticae", the second for Hilbert's "Mathematical Problems." Beginning in the second quarter of the nineteenth century mathematics underwent a revolution as crucial and profound in its consequences for the general world outlook as the mathematical revolution in the beginning of the modern era. The main changes included a new statement of the problem of the existence of mathematical objects, particulary in the calculus, and soon thereafter the formation of non-standard structures in geometry, arithmetic and algebra. The primary objective of the work has been to treat the evolution of mathematics in the nineteenth century as a whole; the discussion is concentrated on the essential concepts, methods, and algorithms.