Abel's Proof: An Essay on the Sources and Meaning of Mathematical Unsolvability.

PETER PESIC 

At 21 years of age, Norwegian mathematician Niels Abel proved that algebraic equations of the fifth order are not solvable in radicals. As did many other authors of great works produced at the turn of the 18th century, Abel had difficulty persuading others to accept his stunning proof. He died just a few years later--poor and depressed--unaware of what his place in history would be. Using an adequate number of equations and clear exposition of mathematical ideas, Pesic dissects Abel's proof and describes its impact on the work of mathematicians who followed him. He sets up this story by harkening back to the times of the ancient Greeks and Pythagoreans' attempts to deal with irrational numbers, MIT Pr, 2003, 213 p., b&w photos/illus., hardcover, 324.95.