The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics

'Crest of the Peacock' would be an excellent text for a history of mathematics course. It doesn't cover modern mathematics, but for previous periods it is so much better than many others available. For those brought up on Kline, Boyer, Struik, etc, this book is a refreshing challenge to the thinking we have grown up with. The author does not rant about the misconception of maths as a 'western invention', but instead presents a very readable and well argued history of mathematics in various cultures, and the links between them. I learnt far more from this book than I have from any other history of maths text. Highly recommended, particularly if you teach mathematics - there is so much material in here to liven up your classes.

I have just finished reading this book. It is an amazing experience for someone whose math stopped with the high school. The sections relating to the truly forgotten people - the original inhabitants of the Pacific region, the American continents and Africa- which is mainly contained in the last chapter entitled 'Reflections' were a revelation to me. Anybody who sees math as a truly global phenomena must read this book I would be most interested in knowing more about the author.

For somebody with a limited mathematics background, I was surprised by this book. Chapter 1 is an amazing journey into the pathways and byways of mathematics as a global phenomena. It is also a well-directed polemic aimed at the arrogance of those who claim that mathematics was created by some chosen people. Subseqeunt chapters contain examples and solutions from a number of mathematical cultures. I was particularly attracted by the treatment of Indian and 'Arab' mathematics. The background of the people and cultures involved was treated with such zest that it replenished my appetite to try out more math. I would particulary recommend the last chapter which consists of afterthoughts on the topics covered in earlier chapter. An amazing book!

A monumental work and an outstanding contribution to the history of early mathematics and a rare peep into the much neglected, albeit enormous contributions of the muslim arab, indian, persian and chinese mathematicians in shaping the field of mathematics. Few people will even come close to the extent of research that George Gheverghese Joseph in unearthing the mathematical histories of non-european origins.

The book brings out a very important balance to the context of history of mathematics. Most of us have no idea that Mayan civilizations could have had developed mathematics. This book will change our view. Even in the context of Indian mathematics, the book draws attention to the context of Kerala mathemtics, to show the continuity of Indian mathematics in 13-14 th centurary. Best part I liked about `quipu'. It is a mop which consists of a collection of knots, often dyed in one or more colours. He discusses how `quipu' of Inca tribes are actually mathematical records, a hard disk of their time. The book is written in a lively form. As a information, The title ` Crest of peacock' means mathematics as as the head of all knowledge.(