Overview

In the folklore of mathematics, James Joseph Sylvester (1814-1897) is the eccentric, hot-tempered, sword-cane-wielding, nineteenth-century British Jew who, together with the taciturn Arthur Cayley, developed a theory and language of invariants that then died spectacularly in the 1890s as a result of David Hilbert's groundbreaking, 'modern' techniques. This, like all folklore, has some grounding in fact but owes much to fiction. The present volume brings together for the first time 140 letters from Sylvester's correspondence in an effort to establish the true picture. It reveals - through the letters as well as through the detailed mathematical and historical commentary accompanying them - Sylvester the friend, man of principle, mathematician, poet, professor, scientific activist, social observer, traveller. It also provides a detailed look at Sylvester's thoughts and thought processes as it shows him acting in both personal and professional spheres over the course of his eighty-two year life. The Sylvester who emerges from this analysis - unlike the Sylvester of the folkloric caricature - offers deep insight into the development of the technical and social structures of mathematics.

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9780199671380

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Professor Parshall has made it her buisiness to follow Sylvester down the years in all contries he visited and she has presented us with a vivid picture of the man.She has gone beyond the myth and beyond Bell's indelible journalism and has consolidated and updated R.C Archibald's pioneering work. Sylvester's blood courses through his veins as we witness those years of intense creativity.Mathematicians will appreciate the clear exposition of mathematics of time..The ample footnotes are exceptionally well researched and informative. This book will be most widely read by mathematicians but will also be invaluable to those interested in the social history of Britain and its European connections The Mathematical Gazette ...this scholary work...the reviewer knows of hardly any other edition containing such valuable and complete information as is provided here on every topic or person mentioned or allueded to in the letters...Most welcome! MATH

...this scholary work...the reviewer knows of hardly any other edition containing such valuable and complete information as is provided here on every topic or person mentioned or allueded to in the letters...Most welcome! * MATH * Professor Parshall has made it her buisiness to follow Sylvester down the years in all contries he visited and she has presented us with a vivid picture of the man.She has gone beyond the myth and beyond Bell's indelible journalism and has consolidated and updated R.C Archibald's pioneering work. Sylvester's blood courses through his veins as we witness those years of intense creativity.Mathematicians will appreciate the clear exposition of mathematics of time..The ample footnotes are exceptionally well researched and informative. This book will be most widely read by mathematicians but will also be invaluable to those interested in the social history of Britain and its European connections * The Mathematical Gazette *

Author Information

Karen Hunger Parshall is Professor of History and Mathematics at the University of Virginia. Her research focuses on the life, times, and mathematical work of James Joseph Sylvester.

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