History of Mathematics: Book Review (M6)

History of Mathematics: Book Review (M6)
Review the following book: “Mathematics of Life” by Ian Stewart
Writing Your Book Review
When you have read your book, please write a book review of covering the following:
• State the book’s thesis.
• Explain 3 important ideas from the book.
• Explain the historical and/or cultural context, that is, events, beliefs and values that influenced the ideas/people in the book.
• Explore and offer an analysis of how one of these events, beliefs or values altered math history.
• Discuss how your book treats one of themes that we have followed through the course, so far: numbers, pattern, proof, abstraction, or applications.
• Evaluate your book: Was it clearly written? Did the author document her claims? At what level was the book written? What level of mathematics is required to understand the book? Did you read any reviews of the book and, if so, were there criticisms? Do you agree with criticisms that you read or do you have any of your own?
All words and ideas that are not your own must have text notes. You must provide a properly formatted list of sources, including accurate URLs for websites.
Evaluation Criteria
1. Clear statement of topic.
2. Use of critical thinking – i.e. do you look at ideas and events analytically & critically, instead of just reporting what you read?
3. Accuracy of factual content.
4. Understanding of mathematical ideas and of the place of those ideas in a broader historical context.
5. Quality of sources.
6. Clear, correct writing with appropriate attribution of sources through text notes and bibliography. Grammar, punctuation and spelling do count.