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The history of mathematical tables : from Sumer to spreadsheets / edited by M. Campbell-Kelly ... [et al.].

Contributor(s): Campbell-Kelly, Martin.
Material type: materialTypeLabelBookPublisher: Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2003Description: viii, 361 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. + hbk.ISBN: 0198508417.Subject(s): Mathematics -- Tables -- History | History of mathematicsDDC classification: 510.212
Contents:
Tables and tabular formatting in Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria, 2500 BCE-50 CE / Eleanor Robson -- The making of logarithm tables / Graham Jagger -- History of actuarial tables / Christopher Lewin and Margaret De Valois -- The computation factory : de Prony's project for making tables in the 1790s / Ivor Grattan-Guinness -- Difference engines : from Mèuller to Comrie / Michael R. Williams -- The 'unerring certainty of mechanical agency' : machines and table making in the nineteenth century / Doron Swade -- Table making in astronomy / Arthur L. Norberg -- The General Register Office and the tabulation of data, 1837-1939 / Edward Higgs -- Table making by committee : British table makers, 1871-1965 / Mary Croarken -- Table making for the relief of labour / David Alan Grier -- The making of astronomical tables in HM Nautical Almanac Office / George A. Wilkins -- The rise and rise of the spreadsheet / Martin Campbell-Kelly.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

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 articles summarising the technical, institutional and intellectual history of mathematical tables from earliest times until the late twentieth century. It covers mathematical tables (the most important computing aid for several hundred years until the 1960s), data tables (eg. Census tables), professional tables (eg. insurance tables), and spreadsheets - the most recent tabular innovation.The book is presented in a scholarly yet accessible way, making appropriate use of text boxes and illustrations. Each chapter has a frontispiece featuring a table along with a small illustration of the source where the table was first displayed. Most chapters have sidebars telling a short "story" or history relating to the chapter.The aim of this edited volume is to capture the history of tables through eleven chapters written by subject specialists. The contributors describe the various information processing techniques and artefacts whose unifying concept is "the mathematical table".

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Tables and tabular formatting in Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria, 2500 BCE-50 CE / Eleanor Robson -- The making of logarithm tables / Graham Jagger -- History of actuarial tables / Christopher Lewin and Margaret De Valois -- The computation factory : de Prony's project for making tables in the 1790s / Ivor Grattan-Guinness -- Difference engines : from Mèuller to Comrie / Michael R. Williams -- The 'unerring certainty of mechanical agency' : machines and table making in the nineteenth century / Doron Swade -- Table making in astronomy / Arthur L. Norberg -- The General Register Office and the tabulation of data, 1837-1939 / Edward Higgs -- Table making by committee : British table makers, 1871-1965 / Mary Croarken -- Table making for the relief of labour / David Alan Grier -- The making of astronomical tables in HM Nautical Almanac Office / George A. Wilkins -- The rise and rise of the spreadsheet / Martin Campbell-Kelly.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

  • Introduction
  • Table and tabular formatting in Sumer, Babylonia and Assyria, 2500 BCE - 50 CE
  • The making of logarithm tables
  • The computation factory: de Prony's project for making tables in the 1790's
  • Difference engines: from Muller to Comrie
  • The 'unerring certainty of mechanical agency': machines and table making in the nineteenth century
  • Table making in astronomy
  • The General Registry Office and the tabulation of data, 1837 - 1939
  • Table making by committee
  • British table maker 1871 - 1965
  • Table making for the relief of labour
  • The making of astronomical tables in H.M. Nautical Almanac Office
  • The rise and rise of the spreadsheet
  • Biographical Notes

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Most history of science, mathematics, and computing books lack the space to describe in detail how practitioners have carried out their daily work. In recent years, though, research historians have been explaining instruments as calculating devices that supported the theoretical and observational activities described in books. This work continues that trend by exploring a tool that has traditionally fallen between scholarly disciplines. Several experts in the history of mathematics and the history of computing explain how mathematical tables have been used in a variety of contexts for a variety of purposes. Despite the breadth of coverage, a number of common themes emerge: the perpetual difficulty of managing large quantities of information, the human desire to eliminate repetitive and arduous calculation, and the significance of mathematics in areas of knowledge ranging from life insurance to astronomy. Each essay is clearly written; illustrated sidebars explaining such details as the historical setting of ancient Mesopotamia or the workings inside Charles Babbage's second difference engine further strengthen the presentation. Short essays on further reading for each chapter will assist students preparing term papers as well as instructors incorporating these topics into their courses. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. A. K. Ackerberg-Hastings University of Maryland University College

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Martin Campbell-Kelly is in the Department of Computer Science, University of Warwick. Mary Croarken is a Visiting Fellow, Department of Computer Science, University of Warwick. Raymond Flood is a University Lecturer in Computing Studies and Mathematics, Oxford University Department for Continuing Education; Fellow of Kellog College. Eleanor Robson is a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford.

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