Books. Every self-respecting mathematician’s floor has a pile of them, some half-read, others to re-read, some merely providing structural support. In The Mathematician’s Library, Thomas K. Briggs considers an alternative approach to the literature, instead using the books of the last few millennia to tell the story of mathematical development around the world.
When I say “around the world”, I mean it: Briggs takes care to pick out important early texts from India and China; if the southern hemisphere feels a bit hard done-by, I suspect that’s more a shortage of available works than a deliberate snub. As far as possible, he tries to counter the narrative that all mathematicians conform to the traditional old-white-bloke stereotype by providing counterexamples. The tone is light and friendly, a “hey, look at this cool thing!” approach, typified by the last few selections: rather than pure research, the picks move assertively towards popular maths.
It’s a beautiful book – a gorgeous cover and thoughtfully laid-out illustrations, even if the ligatures on the typeface feel like a little much. It follows a largely chronological path, split into six sections – the first 40,000 years (up to Euclid), the origins of mathematics (up to about 600CE), global evolution (up to the Renaissance), scientific revolution (up to Newton’s Principia), modern mathematics (up to Russell and Whitehead’s), and – somewhat eyebrow-raisingly – the future, from 1932 to 2024.
My main criticism of the book is that there’s obviously a concept behind it, but what the concept is isn’t made clear. Is Briggs an enthusiastic librarian showing us around his imaginary collection? Are we travelling through time to visit the floor-piles of mathematicians gone by? Is it just a list of some interesting books and some commentary on them? I believe it’s the first, but the introduction ought to put it beyond doubt.
There’s something for everyone here: enough detail to get you started if you want to burrow into a rabbit-hole, but not so much as to overwhelm; a mix of familiar and unusual book selections; lots of pretty pictures if you don’t feel like digging into the maths right now; and a wide, tall format that will add stability to my personal pile of books.
- Disclosure: Colin received a free review copy of The Mathematician’s Library and hopes the author still considers him a friend after this.
- The Mathematician’s Library will be published by Ivy Press on September 11th, 2025, with a list price of £28.00.