Excellent historical content and mathematical resource.

I was first exposed to this work at my grandfather's home when in the seventh grade. I read the biographic history and first topic (Egyptian arithmetic and fractions) in his copy. The next Christmas he gave me my own. At that time I could follow the technical parts of only three topics, but was thrilled to realize that I could keep pace with the top mathemeticians in the world, if only I'd been born 2,800 years ago. The book(s) made me decide to study mathematics seriously.

I strongly recomend the set, both as history and a series of interesting introductions to various topics in the field. While I can't bring myself to class this as a 'juvenile' work, I would also suggest that anyone with a high-school student even mildly into math, might look to this work to encourage them. ( )

A great set of books. Reviews here: http://www24.brinkster.com/srineet/reviews.html#WorldOfMathematics ( )

A superb collection that made me want to be a mathematician. (Alas, I turned out not to be cut out for it.)

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