The bestselling author & physicist explores the masterpieces of mathematics through thirty-one landmark works, spanning two,500 years and representing seventeen mathematicians.From the geometry of Euclid through the calculus of Newton, the probabilities of Laplace to the thought of Boole, this extraordinary volume allows readers to peer into the mind of genius by providing them with excerpts form the original mathematical proofs and results. It also charts the progression of mathematical thought—granting the reader a solid understanding of the very foundations of some of our current technologies.