Written by J. F. Riley it is a detailed and fascinating examination of what algebra is, how it originated and how it developed into the branch of mathematics that it is today.
From its origin within the Indian sub-continent to the Middle East and then to France in the 17th century the story is a fascinating tale of mathematics and religious intolerance and fear of something that was both new and, in the minds of some, potentially dangerous.
J. F. Riley wrote: "I write the Bone-Setters to resurrect the importance and acknowledgement of Hindu arithmetic, algebra and trigonometry as the origins of modern day maths and to emphasise the debt we ow India for their numbering-system that now underpins the world. Also to reinforce that it was the Muslim sphere that not only developed algebra but also preserved the fountain of the world's knowledge which they left intact in all their great libraries, waiting for the West to re-discover."
It's published by Matador at £16.99 in hardback and is an ideal publication for anyone who is a mathematician who wishes to learn some of the history of algebra.
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