Mathematical Thinking

In “A Brief History of Mathematical Thought” Luke Heaton explores how the language of mathematics has evolved over time, enabling new technologies and shaping the way people think. From stone-age rituals to algebra, calculus, and the concept of computation, Heaton shows the enormous influence of mathematics on science, philosophy and the broader human story. “The Power of Mathematical Thinking” explains some biased intuitions people tend to have and how to understand the world in a deeper and more meaningful way with the tools of mathematics in hand. As a mathematical field, probability came out of nowhere in the middle of the 17th century – it went from basically nonexistent to a popular, prominent field of math in just decades. For that to happen, there had to be a fundamental change in mathematical thinking. “The Emergence of Probability” tries to discern what change happened.