The queen of mathematics : a historically motivated guide to number theory / Jay R. Goldman

This remarkable book gives a historically motivated introduction to almost all aspects of modern number theory on an elementary level. In order to get an impression of its aims, scope and content let us first quote from the author's preface: “Starting in the fall of 1986, I combined my interests in number theory and history by teaching a one-year course in number theory from a historical perspective. The course used historical highlights to show the development of various topics, and I included some discussion about the lives of famous number theorists. My lecture notes for the course turned into a more formal set of notes, which turned into this book. Both the spirit and organization of material in the book remain those of my original lectures. The book is not self-contained. I don't hesitate to state theorems without proof. This enables me to present a broad perspective and introduce important concepts, without the details needed by a specialist in the area. ... (Zentralblatt)

Bibliogr. p. 497-515. Index