Esquisse du progrès de la pensée mathématique

IT is not the technical results of mathematical progress, but rather the development in the outlook of mathematicians, which is very ably sketched in this little book. From the primitive attempts of reckoning to the dizzy heights of contemporary mathematics, we thus have before us an ordered and most suggestive exposition of the mathematical atmospheres of the ages. Selected quotations from the leading mathematicians help us to understand the progressive changes in their interests and methods. This is an interesting contribution to the history of science. Esquisse du progrès de la pensée mathématique: Des primitifs au ix e Congrès international des Mathématiciens. Par J. Pelseneer. (Bibliothèque scientifique belge.) Pp. 161. (Paris: Hermann et Cie, 1935.) 15 francs.