Jan Gullberg

Jan Gullberg (1936 – 21 May 1998) was a Swedish surgeon and anaesthesiologist, but became known as a writer on popular science and medical topics. He is best known outside Sweden as the author of Mathematics: From the Birth of Numbers, published by W. W. Norton in 1997 .

Life

Gullberg grew up and was trained as a surgeon in Sweden. He qualified in medicine at the University of Lund in 1964. He practised as a surgeon in Saudi Arabia, Norway and Virginia Mason Hospital, Seattle in the United States, as well as in Sweden. It proved a major success; its first edition of 17,000 copies was virtually sold out within six months.

Contents

The book's 1093 pages address the following topics:

Numbers and Language Systems of Numeration Types of Numbers Cornerstones of Mathematics Combinatorics Symbolic Logic Set Theory Introduction to Sequences and Series Theory of Equations Introduction to Functions Overture to the Geometries Elementary Geometry Trigonometry Hyperbolic Functions Analytic Geometry Vector Analysis Fractals Matrices and Determinants Embarking on Calculus Introduction to Differential Calculus Introduction to Integral Calculus Power Series Indeterminate Limits Complex Numbers Revisited Extrema and Critical Points Arc Length Centroids Area Volume Motion Harmonic Analysis Methods of Approximation Probability Theory Differential Equations

Reception

Gullberg commented, "At the start no 'real mathematician' would accept my book. And perhaps it was a bit crazy of me to write a book on mathematics, as it would be for a mathematician to write a book on surgery."

Other works

Vätska Gas Energi – Kemi och Fysik med tillämpningar i vätskebalans-, blodgas- och näringslära (1978) Kiruna.