Editing Concepts of Modern Mathematics

{{short description|Book by Ian Stewart}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox book
| name          = Concepts of Modern Mathematics
| title_orig    = 
| translator    = 
| image         = Concepts of Modern Mathematics.jpg
| caption       = First edition 
| author        = [[Ian Stewart (mathematician)|Ian Stewart]]
| illustrator   = 
| cover_artist  = 
| country       = United Kingdom
| language      = English
| series        = 
| subject       = Mathematics
| genre         = Non-fiction 
| publisher     = [[Pelican Books]]
| pub_date      = 1975
| english_pub_date = 
| media_type    = Print
| pages         = 352 pages
| isbn          = 0-14-021849-1
| dewey         = 510
| congress      = QA93 .S73
| oclc          = 2020912
| preceded_by   = 
| followed_by   = 
}}

'''''Concepts of Modern Mathematics''''' is a book by mathematician and science popularizer [[Ian Stewart (mathematician)|Ian Stewart]] about then-recent developments in [[mathematics]]. It was originally published by Penguin Books in 1975,<ref>{{citation|last=Pieper|first=H.|journal=zbMATH|title=Review of ''Concepts of Mathematics'' (Penguin, 1975)|zbl=0345.00003}}</ref><ref>{{citation|last=Neill|first=H.|date=March 1977|doi=10.2307/3617450|issue=415|journal=The Mathematical Gazette|jstor=3617450|page=65|title=Review of ''Concepts of Mathematics'' (Penguin, 1975)|volume=61}}</ref> updated in 1981, and reprinted by Dover publications in 1995<ref name="heuer">{{citation|last=Heuer|first=G. A.|journal=Mathematical Reviews|mr=1319145|title=Review of ''Concepts of Mathematics'' (Dover, 1995)|year=1996}}</ref> and 2015.<ref>{{citation|last=Ruane|first=P. N.|date=October 2015|journal=MAA Reviews|publisher=Mathematical Association of America|title=Review of ''Concepts of Mathematics'' (Dover, 2015)|url=https://www.maa.org/press/maa-reviews/concepts-of-modern-mathematics}}</ref>

==Overview==
The book arose out of an extramural class that Ian Stewart taught at the [[University of Warwick]] about "Modern mathematics".<ref name="heuer"/> In the 1995 [[Dover Publications|Dover]] edition Stewart wrote that the aim of the class was:

:''to explain why the underlying abstract point of view had gained currency among research mathematicians, and to examine how it opened up entirely new realms of mathematical thought''.

The book is aimed at non-mathematicians. However, there are frequent equations and diagrams and the level of presentation is more technical than some of Stewart's other popular books such as ''[[Flatterland]]''. Topics covered include [[analytic geometry]], [[set theory]], [[abstract algebra]], [[group theory]], [[topology]], and [[probability]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Books by Ian Stewart (mathematician)]]
[[Category:1975 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Mathematics books]]


{{mathematics-lit-stub}}