Find X.(Unknown Quantity: A Real and Imaginary History of Algebra)(Book review)

From: National Review | Date: August 28, 2006| Author: Westmoreland, Michael | Copyright information

Unknown Quantity: A Real and Imaginary History of Algebra, by John Derbyshire (Joseph Henry, 390 pp., $27.95)

IN 1935, a prominent man eulogized one of his friends: "There is, fortunately, a minority composed of those who recognize early in their lives that the most beautiful and satisfying experiences open to humankind are not derived from the outside, but are bound up with the development of the individual's own feeling, thinking, and acting. The genuine artists, inves...

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