豊かな歴史と文化的多様性を持つ数学界における努力や試みについて、帝国時代初期の中国、中世のイスラーム世界、そして19世紀のイギリスなど、幅広い時間と場所から事例を引いて概説します。数学の定義が、時を経る中でどのように変わっていったのか、また数学の教授法や学習がどのように進展してきたのかにも注目します。
   

• Uses a thematic development of ideas, to draw examples and identify themes from a wide variety of times and places
• Examines how the definition of mathematics has changed through history, with eventual professionalization
• Considers how the teaching and learning of mathematics has developed
• Uses illustrative case studies including examples from early imperial China, the medieval Islamic world, and nineteenth-century Britain

 
Mathematics is a fundamental human activity that can be practised and understood in a multitude of ways; indeed, mathematical ideas themselves are far from being fixed, but are adapted and changed by their passage across periods and cultures. In this Very Short Introduction, Jacqueline Stedall explores the rich historical and cultural diversity of mathematical endeavour from the distant past to the present day. 
  
Arranged thematically, to exemplify the varied contexts in which people have learned, used, and handed on mathematics, she also includes illustrative case studies drawn from a range of times and places, including early imperial China, the medieval Islamic world, and nineteenth-century Britain.