Abstract
THE science of mathematics, the most fundamental of all intellectual activities, has been studied since the dawn of history, and almost certainly before that. The motives which impel this study are various, but it would scarcely be an exaggeration to say that everyone uses mathematics in one form or another. In the past, many of the advances of pure mathematics have been bound up with practical applications. For example, it is probably not often realised that the Gibbs phenomenon of Fourier series was brought into prominence by results obtained in using the harmonic analyser of Michelson and Stratton, and was at first attributed to an inaccuracy in the machine itself.
Mathematics for Self-Study Series.
By J. E. Thompson (1) Arithmetic for the Practical Man. Pp. xiii + 269. (2) Algebra for the Practical Man. Pp. xviii + 291. (3) Trigonometry for the Practical Man. Pp. x + 204. (4) The Calculus for the Practical Man. Pp. x + 323. (London: George Routledge and Sons, Ltd., 1931.) 7s. 6d. net each volume.
(5) Mathematics: a Text-book for Technical Students.
By Bevis Brunel Low. Pp. vii + 448. (London, New York and Toronto: Longmans, Green and Co., Ltd., 1931.) 12s. 6d. net.
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MILNE-THOMSON, L. Mathematics for the Practical Man. Nature 129, 358 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/129358a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/129358a0