The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics

Citation

Hutton, D.M. (2009), "The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics", Kybernetes, Vol. 38 No. 3/4, pp. 661-662. https://doi.org/10.1108/03684920910944885

A book that goes to its fourth edition must surely be a much needed and popular publication. The editions have appeared from the first in 1989 to the present‐day fourth edition of 2008. Each edition has seen updates and the addition of sections that clarify both mathematics and our perception of what it entails.

This issue, for example, includes a glossary of the most useful and frequently used signs and symbols. Other “new” topics have also been included. These are the areas of chaos, fractuals, graph theory and also the theory of coding.

At a time when there is a popular interest not only in mathematics itself but also its applications there is an increased desire to learn about the famous mathematicians who have developed the subject over the centuries and often given their names to concepts, techniques, theorems and hypotheses. Some 2,000 biographies of such important mathematicians are included.

It is an excellent well‐ordered dictionary produced by a publisher who for decades has led the market in compiling such editions. Although this is not the traditional “pocket” dictionary or “guide” the company are so well‐known for, it has all the marks of a well‐arranged and practical Penguin volume. Essential, I believe, for both reference and general browsing and useful too, for those of us who want to inspire our students into reading about mathematics not only as a discipline but also for its history and its applications to so many aspects of our existence.