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Cover image of Origins of Mathematical Words
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Origins of Mathematical Words

A Comprehensive Dictionary of Latin, Greek, and Arabic Roots

Anthony Lo Bello

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The most comprehensive math root dictionary ever published.

Outstanding Academic Title, Choice

Do you ever wonder about the origins of mathematical terms such as ergodic, biholomorphic, and strophoid? Here Anthony Lo Bello explains the roots of these and better-known words like asymmetric, gradient, and average. He provides Greek, Latin, and Arabic text in its original form to enhance each explanation. This sophisticated, one-of-a-kind reference for mathematicians and word lovers is based on decades of the author's painstaking research and work.

Origins of Mathematical Words supplies definitions...

The most comprehensive math root dictionary ever published.

Outstanding Academic Title, Choice

Do you ever wonder about the origins of mathematical terms such as ergodic, biholomorphic, and strophoid? Here Anthony Lo Bello explains the roots of these and better-known words like asymmetric, gradient, and average. He provides Greek, Latin, and Arabic text in its original form to enhance each explanation. This sophisticated, one-of-a-kind reference for mathematicians and word lovers is based on decades of the author's painstaking research and work.

Origins of Mathematical Words supplies definitions for words such as conchoid (a shell-shaped curve derived from the Greek noun for "mussel") and zenith (Arabic for "way overhead"), as well as approximation (from the Latin proximus, meaning "nearest"). These and hundreds of other terms wait to be discovered within the pages of this mathematical and etymological treasure chest.

Reviews

Reviews

A true labor of love, this book will delight mathematicians, especially graduate students. Others can only applaud the knowledge, curiosity, and delight Lo Bello brings to his work. VERDICT Enthusiastically recommended for comprehensive mathematical collections, graduate collections, and for every mathematician's bookshelf.

This book is well-conceived... I don't think there has been a dictionary of mathematical words of this kind since 1994... I warmly recommend it.

This etymological dictionary is a very scholarly, reliable, highly recommendable book for everybody who is interested in the linguistic meaning and origin of the English mathematical terminology.

It may be aimed at mathematicians, but anybody interested in etymology and the history of word usage will find much of interest here too.

Olé, Anthony Lo Bello! Good Job! Your book is full of much more interesting material than I can describe and stuff into my allotted space.

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Anthony Lo Bello
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Anthony Lo Bello

Anthony Lo Bello is a professor of mathematics at Allegheny College and author of four volumes about Euclid's elements of geometry in the Middle Ages.