ddThis book is a valuable resource, with carefully annotated documents by and about Maria Gaetana Agnesi
newly translated into English, as well as commentary by Cupillari. The
author's contributions are providing us with English translations of a
biography of Agnesi written the year of her death, 1799, as well as of
excerpts from Agnesi's calculus and algebra textbook Instituzioni Analitiche (Analytic Institutions), including Agnesi's discussion of the versiera "free to move" curve, mistranslated into 18th century English as "witch" of Agnesi.
Agnesi's biography is fascinating and an easy read: tracing her
career from the talented young girl shown off at her father's social
gatherings to a serious scholar and writer of one of the earliest
calculus textbooks, to a recluse who devoted the last half of her life
to religion and care of poor and ill women. Cupillari's book is well
documented with endnotes, footnotes, and bibliography. However, it is at
times confusing due to inconsistent styles of citation and
typographical errors. Cupillari analyses her sources and takes a
moderate view of Agnesi- neither a beginner nor an original discoverer,
but a "bright and hard working scholar, and an excellent writer of a
mathematical textbook for her times" (p. 239).
The mathematical excerpts include two on the versiera that would be
accessible to students in a course on analytical geometry, as well as
one on using the logarithmic curve in integration useful for an
introductory calculus class. Together with the biographical source
material, the book is a worthwhile addition to a personal, school or
university library.
Edith Prentice Mendez, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Sonoma State University
Edith Prentice Mendez, reviewer, "A Biography of Maria Gaetana Agnesi," Loci (June 2008)
- See more at: http://www.maa.org/publications/periodicals/convergence/a-biography-of-maria-gaetana-agnesi#sthash.EptURT6v.dpufThis book is a valuable resource, with carefully annotated documents by and about Maria Gaetana Agnesi
newly translated into English, as well as commentary by Cupillari. The
author's contributions are providing us with English translations of a
biography of Agnesi written the year of her death, 1799, as well as of
excerpts from Agnesi's calculus and algebra textbook Instituzioni Analitiche (Analytic Institutions), including Agnesi's discussion of the versiera "free to move" curve, mistranslated into 18th century English as "witch" of Agnesi.
Agnesi's biography is fascinating and an easy read: tracing her
career from the talented young girl shown off at her father's social
gatherings to a serious scholar and writer of one of the earliest
calculus textbooks, to a recluse who devoted the last half of her life
to religion and care of poor and ill women. Cupillari's book is well
documented with endnotes, footnotes, and bibliography. However, it is at
times confusing due to inconsistent styles of citation and
typographical errors. Cupillari analyses her sources and takes a
moderate view of Agnesi- neither a beginner nor an original discoverer,
but a "bright and hard working scholar, and an excellent writer of a
mathematical textbook for her times" (p. 239).
The mathematical excerpts include two on the versiera that would be
accessible to students in a course on analytical geometry, as well as
one on using the logarithmic curve in integration useful for an
introductory calculus class. Together with the biographical source
material, the book is a worthwhile addition to a personal, school or
university library.
Edith Prentice Mendez, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Sonoma State University
Edith Prentice Mendez, reviewer, "A Biography of Maria Gaetana Agnesi," Loci (June 2008)
- See more at: http://www.maa.org/publications/periodicals/convergence/a-biography-of-maria-gaetana-agnesi#sthash.EptURT6v.dpuf
ddThis book is a valuable resource, with carefully annotated documents by and about Maria Gaetana Agnesi
newly translated into English, as well as commentary by Cupillari. The
author's contributions are providing us with English translations of a
biography of Agnesi written the year of her death, 1799, as well as of
excerpts from Agnesi's calculus and algebra textbook Instituzioni Analitiche (Analytic Institutions), including Agnesi's discussion of the versiera "free to move" curve, mistranslated into 18th century English as "witch" of Agnesi.
Agnesi's biography is fascinating and an easy read: tracing her
career from the talented young girl shown off at her father's social
gatherings to a serious scholar and writer of one of the earliest
calculus textbooks, to a recluse who devoted the last half of her life
to religion and care of poor and ill women. Cupillari's book is well
documented with endnotes, footnotes, and bibliography. However, it is at
times confusing due to inconsistent styles of citation and
typographical errors. Cupillari analyses her sources and takes a
moderate view of Agnesi- neither a beginner nor an original discoverer,
but a "bright and hard working scholar, and an excellent writer of a
mathematical textbook for her times" (p. 239).
The mathematical excerpts include two on the versiera that would be
accessible to students in a course on analytical geometry, as well as
one on using the logarithmic curve in integration useful for an
introductory calculus class. Together with the biographical source
material, the book is a worthwhile addition to a personal, school or
university library.
Edith Prentice Mendez, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Sonoma State University
Edith Prentice Mendez, reviewer, "A Biography of Maria Gaetana Agnesi," Loci (June 2008)
- See more at: http://www.maa.org/publications/periodicals/convergence/a-biography-of-maria-gaetana-agnesi#sthash.EptURT6v.dpufThis book is a valuable resource, with carefully annotated documents by and about Maria Gaetana Agnesi
newly translated into English, as well as commentary by Cupillari. The
author's contributions are providing us with English translations of a
biography of Agnesi written the year of her death, 1799, as well as of
excerpts from Agnesi's calculus and algebra textbook Instituzioni Analitiche (Analytic Institutions), including Agnesi's discussion of the versiera "free to move" curve, mistranslated into 18th century English as "witch" of Agnesi.
Agnesi's biography is fascinating and an easy read: tracing her
career from the talented young girl shown off at her father's social
gatherings to a serious scholar and writer of one of the earliest
calculus textbooks, to a recluse who devoted the last half of her life
to religion and care of poor and ill women. Cupillari's book is well
documented with endnotes, footnotes, and bibliography. However, it is at
times confusing due to inconsistent styles of citation and
typographical errors. Cupillari analyses her sources and takes a
moderate view of Agnesi- neither a beginner nor an original discoverer,
but a "bright and hard working scholar, and an excellent writer of a
mathematical textbook for her times" (p. 239).
The mathematical excerpts include two on the versiera that would be
accessible to students in a course on analytical geometry, as well as
one on using the logarithmic curve in integration useful for an
introductory calculus class. Together with the biographical source
material, the book is a worthwhile addition to a personal, school or
university library.
Edith Prentice Mendez, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Sonoma State University
Edith Prentice Mendez, reviewer, "A Biography of Maria Gaetana Agnesi," Loci (June 2008)
- See more at: http://www.maa.org/publications/periodicals/convergence/a-biography-of-maria-gaetana-agnesi#sthash.EptURT6v.dpuf
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق