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The mathematical genius Alan Turing (1912-1954) was one of the greatest scientists and thinkers of the 20th century. Now well known for his crucial wartime role in breaking the ENIGMA code, he was the first to conceive of the fundamental principle of the modern computer — the idea of controlling a computing machine's operations by means of coded instructions, stored in the machine's ‘memory’. In 1945, Turing drew up his revolutionary design for an electronic computing machine — his Automatic Computing Engine (‘ACE’). A pilot model of the ACE ran its first programme in 1950 and the production version, the ‘DEUCE’, went on to become a cornerstone of the fledgling British computer industry. The first ‘personal’ computer was based on Turing's ACE. This book describes Turing's struggle to build the modern computer. It contains first-hand accounts by Turing and by the pioneers of computing who worked with him. The book describes the hardware and software of the ACE and contains chapters describing Turing's path-breaking research in the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Artificial Life (A-Life).

This is the second book of a six volume edition of the complete correspondence of one of the leading figures in the scientific revolution of the 17th century, the Oxford mathematician and theologian John Wallis (1616-1703). It covers the period 1660 to September 1668 and thus some of the most decisive years of political and scientific reorganization in England during that century. The volume begins shortly before the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and witnesses the emergence of the Royal Society from scientific circles, which had existed earlier in London and Oxford. Wallis's involvement in the Royal Society stretches back to its beginnings. After its official establishment, he became one of its most active members, corresponding regularly with its secretary Henry Oldenburg and attending meetings whenever he was in London. Wallis contributed extensively to contemporary scientific debate both in England and on the continent, and many of his letters to Oldenburg on mathematical and physical topics were edited and published in the journal Philosophical Transactions to this purpose. The correspondence contained in the volume, much of which is previously unpublished, throws new light on the background to the scientific revolution and on university politics during this time. As Keeper of the Archives, Wallis was often called upon to prepare papers aimed at defending the University of Oxford's ancient rights and privileges, and was also required to spend a considerable amount of his time in London. To this extent, at least his university commitments and scientific interests were able to go hand-in-hand.

This book is the first of a six volume edition of the complete correspondence of John Wallis (1616-1703). It begins with his earliest known letters written shortly before the outbreak of the first Civil War while he was serving as a private chaplain, and ends on the eve of the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, by which time he was already an established figure within the Republic of Letters. The period covered is thus a momentous one in Wallis's life. It witnesses his election to Savilian professor of geometry at the University of Oxford in 1649 and his subsequent rise to become one of the leading mathematicians of his day, particularly through his introduction of new arithmetical approaches to Cavalieri's method of quadratures. The correspondence reflects the full breadth of his professional activities in theology and mathematics, and provides insights not only into religious debates taking place during the revolutionary years but also into the various questions with which the mathematically-orientated scientific community was concerned. Many of the previously unpublished letters also throw light on University affairs. After his controversial election to the post of Keeper of the Archives in 1658, Wallis fought vigorously to uphold the rights of the University of Oxford whenever necessary, and to prevent as far as possible outside interference from political and religious quarters.

This book provides an accessible account of the rise of algebra in England from the medieval period to the later years of the 17th century. The book includes new research and is the most detailed study to date of early modern English algebra. In its structure and content this book builds on a much earlier history of algebra, A treatise of algebra, published in 1685 by John Wallis (Savilian Professor of Geometry at Oxford). This book both analyses Wallis' text and moves beyond it. Thus, it explores the reception and dissemination of important ideas from continental Europe up to the end of the 16th century, and the subsequent revolution in English mathematics in the 17th century. In particular, the book includes chapters on the work of Thomas Harriot, William Oughtred, John Pell, and William Brouncker, as well as of Wallis himself.

This book explores how the mathematics the Jesuits brought to China was reconstructed as a branch of imperial learning so that the emperor Kangxi (r. 1662–1722) could consolidate his power over the most populous empire in the world. Kangxi forced a return to the use of what became known as ‘Western’ methods in official astronomy. In his middle life he studied astronomy, musical theory, and mathematics in person, with Jesuits as his teachers. In his last years he sponsored a book that was intended to compile these three disciplines, and he set several of his sons to work on this project. All this activity formed a vital part of his plan for establishing Manchu authority over the Chinese. This book sets out to explain how and why Kangxi made the sciences a tool for laying the foundations of empire, and to show how, as part of this process, mathematics was reconstructed as a branch of imperial learning.

This book casts new light on the work of Thomas Harriot (c.1560-1621), an innovative thinker and practitioner in several branches of the mathematical sciences, including navigation, astronomy, optics, geometry, and algebra. On his death Harriot left behind over 4,000 manuscript sheets, but most of his work still remains unpublished. This book focuses on 140 of those sheets, those concerned with the structure and solution of equations. The original material has been carefully ordered, translated, and annotated to provide the first complete edition of Harriot's treatise, and an extended introduction provides the reader with a lucid background to the work. Illustrations from the manuscripts provide additional interest. The appendices discuss correlations between Harriot's manuscripts and those of this contemporaries, Viète, Warner, and Torporley.

The oldest known mathematical table was found in the ancient Sumerian city of Shuruppag in southern Iraq. Since then, tables have been an important feature of mathematical activity; table making and printed tabular matter are important precursors to modern computing and information processing. This book contains a series of chapters summarizing the technical, institutional, and intellectual history of mathematical tables from earliest times until the late 20th century. It covers mathematical tables (the most important computing aid for several hundred years until the 1960s), data tables (e.g., Census tables), professional tables (e.g., insurance tables), and spreadsheets — the most recent tabular innovation. This book captures the history of tables through eleven chapters. The contributors describe the various information processing techniques and artefacts whose unifying concept is ‘the mathematical table’.

The mathematician John Pell was a member of the Royal Society and one of the generation of scientists that included Boyle, Wren, and Hooke. Although he left a huge body of manuscript materials, he has remained a neglected figure, whose papers have never been properly explored. This book is a full-length study of Pell and presents an in-depth account of his life and mathematical thinking based on a detailed study of his manuscripts. It also brings to life a strange, appealing, but awkward character, whose failure to publish his discoveries was caused by powerful scruples. In addition, this book shows that the range of Pell's interests extended far beyond mathematics. He was a key member of the circle of the ‘intelligencer’ Samuel Hartlib; he prepared translations of works by Descartes and Comenius; in the 1650s he served as Cromwell's envoy to Switzerland; and in the last part of his life he was an active member of the Royal Society, interested in the whole range of its activities. The study of Pell's life and thought thus illuminates many different aspects of 17th-century intellectual life. The book is in three parts. The first is a detailed biography of Pell; the second is an extended essay on his mathematical work; the third is a richly annotated edition of his correspondence with Sir Charles Cavendish. This correspondence, which has often been cited by scholars but has never been published in full, is concerned not only with mathematics but also with optics, philosophy, and many other subjects. Conducted mainly while Pell was in the Netherlands and Cavendish was also on the Continent, it is a fascinating example of the correspondence that flourished in the 17th-century ‘Republic of Letters’.

Lord Kelvin was one of the greatest physicists of the Victorian era. Widely known for the development of the Kelvin scale of temperature measurement, Kelvin's interests ranged across thermodynamics, the age of the Earth, the laying of the first transatlantic telegraph cable, not to mention inventions such as an improved maritime compass and a sounding device, which allowed depths to be taken both quickly and while the ship was moving. He was an academic engaged in fundamental research, while also working with industry and technological advances. He corresponded and collaborated with other eminent men of science such as Stokes, Joule, Maxwell, and Helmholtz; was raised to the peerage as a result of his contributions to science, and finally buried in Westminster Abbey next to Newton. This book contains a collection of chapters covering the life and wide-ranging scientific contributions made by William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (1824-1907).