What Is Mathematics?

What is Mathematics? An Elementary Approach to Ideas and Methods
Cover of 1996 second edition
Author(s)	Richard Courant and Herbert Robbins
Language	English
Subject(s)	Mathematics
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Publication date	1941
ISBN	0195025172
OCLC Number	16608993

What Is Mathematics? is a mathematics book written by Richard Courant and Herbert Robbins, published in England by Oxford University Press. It is an introduction to mathematics, intended both for the mathematics student and for the general public.

First published in 1941, it discusses number theory, geometry, topology and calculus. A second edition was published in 1996 with an additional chapter on recent progress in mathematics, written by Ian Stewart. A Spanish translation of the second edition, ¿Qué Son Las Matemáticas?, was published in 2002. Millions of copies of unauthorised Russian and Chinese editions have been printed.^[1]

Although Robbins wrote most of the book, he received almost none of the royalties. Courant owned the copyright, and passed almost none of the money on to Robbins.^[2]

Reviews

• What Is Mathematics? An Elementary Approach to Ideas and Methods, book review by Brian E. Blank, Notices of the American Mathematical Society 48, #11 (December 2001), pp. 1325–1329.
• What Is Mathematics?, book review by Leonard Gillman, The American Mathematical Monthly 105, #5 (May 1998), pp. 485–488.
• What Is Mathematics?, book review by G. L. Alexanderson, The Two-Year College Mathematics Journal 10, #1 (January 1979), pp. 40–42.

Editions

• Richard Courant and Herbert Robbins (1941). What is Mathematics?: An Elementary Approach to Ideas and Methods. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195025172. 
• (1996) 2nd edition, with additional material by Ian Stewart. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195105192.
• Courant, Richard; Robbins, Herbert; Stewart, Ian (2002) (in Spanish). ¿Qué Son Las Matemáticas? Conceptos y métodos fundamentales. México, D. F.: Fondo de Cultura Económica. ISBN 968-16-6717-4.  Spanish translation of the second English edition.

References

1. ^ Preston, Richard (2008). Panic in Level 4. USA: Random House. p. 38. ISBN 987-1-4000-6490-8. "The book is a classic. Millions of copies of it had been printed in unauthorized Russian and Chinese editions alone." 
2. ^ Preston, Richard (2008). Panic in Level 4. USA: Random House. p. 38. ISBN 987-1-4000-6490-8. "Robbins wrote most of the book, while Courant got ownership of the copyright and collected most of the royalties but paid little of the money to Robbins." 

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