TY  - BOOK
AU  - Andre Well
TI  -  Number theory : : an approach through history from hammurapi to legendre
T2  - Institute for Advanced Study 
SN  - 9780817645656
AV  - QA241 
PY  - 2007///]
CY  - Boston
PB  - Birkhauser
N1  - Chapter 1 Protohistory
Chapter 2 Fermat and His Correspondents
Chapter 3 Euler
Chapter 4 An Age of Transition: Lagrange and Legendre
N2  - André Weil, one of the outstanding contributors to number theory, has written an historical exposition of this subject; his study examines texts that span roughly thirty-six centuries of arithmetical work – from an Old Babylonian tablet, datable to the time of Hammurapi to Legendre’s Essai sur la Théorie des Nombres (1798). Motivated by a desire to present the substance of his field to the educated reader, Weil employs an historical approach in the analysis of problems and evolving methods of number theory and their significance within mathematics. In the course of his study Weil accompanies the reader into the workshops of four major authors of modern number theory (Fermat, Euler, Lagrange and Legendre) and there he conducts a detailed and critical examination of their work. Enriched by a broad coverage of intellectual history, Number Theory represents a major contribution to the understanding of our cultural heritage.---Summary provided by publisher
ER  -