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F. LASSERRE, The Birth of Mathematics in the Age of Plato. London, Hutchinson, 1964. 191 p. Pr. sh. 30/-

F. LASSERRE, The Birth of Mathematics in the Age of Plato. London, Hutchinson, 1964. 191 p. Pr.... 432 haben kann. In der nach-aristotelischen Philosophie fliessen also sophistisch-aristotelische Psychologie und demokriteische Indi- vidualethik zusammen. Im ausführlichen Schlusskapitel kommt Plutarch zu Wort, in dessen Schriften (vor allem de invidia et odio, besprochen S. 157 ff.) vieles, auch Philosophisches, einmfndet, der selbst jedoch weniger dogmatisch sich aussert als die Stoiker, Epi- kureer und Kyniker. Zur Kritik nur dies: weshalb wird der Neuplatonismus nicht besprochen? Das Buch hdtte etwas systematischer gestaltet werden konnen : die Frage, wie und weshalb der Neid in die griechi- sche Philosophie hineinkommt, wird nicht gestellt. Weiter ver- misst man Stellen- und Sachregister. SOESTERBERG, Chr. Huygenslaan 26 J. MANSFELD DE NOVIS LIBRIS IUDICIA F. LASSERRE, The Birth of Mathematics in the Age of Plato. London, Hutchinson, 1964. 191 p. Pr. sh. 30/-. Almost half of Lasserre's book is devoted to Eudoxus of Cnidus, whom he rightly regards as the greatest mathematician of Plato's time. In the chapters concerned with him (IV and V) the author comes closer to his subject (the "crucial phase in the quarter of a century which followed the introduction of mathematics into the programme of studies at Plato's Academy") than in the preceding chapters. Still he does not make clear to the reader why this phase was crucial and what is the real greatness of Eudoxus. Of course, the all-important problem of the irrational proportions is mentioned, but not treated in the exact manner the subject requires. Lapses like "definitions of the irrational n1tmbers stated by Theaetetus" (p. 17), or "For the square with side I unit, the diagonal being necessarily shorter than 2 and longer than I, it was easy to show that it was irreducible to any unit But there was no general proof of the incommensurability of the diagonals of squares with their sides" (p. 65), if they are lapses, are confusing, to say the least of it. The problem of continuity is treated still more superficially. So neither the real importance of Eudoxus' theory of proportions nor that of his method of exhaustion is brought nearer to the reader. However, as a readable compilation of facts about Eudoxus and his contemporaries the book has some value. ZUTPHEN, Deventerweg 36 W. VAN DER WIELEN http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Mnemosyne Brill

F. LASSERRE, The Birth of Mathematics in the Age of Plato. London, Hutchinson, 1964. 191 p. Pr. sh. 30/-

Van Der Wielen, W.
Mnemosyne , Volume 19 (4): 432 – Jan 1, 1966
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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 1966 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0026-7074
eISSN
1568-525X
DOI
10.1163/156852566X00727
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

432 haben kann. In der nach-aristotelischen Philosophie fliessen also sophistisch-aristotelische Psychologie und demokriteische Indi- vidualethik zusammen. Im ausführlichen Schlusskapitel kommt Plutarch zu Wort, in dessen Schriften (vor allem de invidia et odio, besprochen S. 157 ff.) vieles, auch Philosophisches, einmfndet, der selbst jedoch weniger dogmatisch sich aussert als die Stoiker, Epi- kureer und Kyniker. Zur Kritik nur dies: weshalb wird der Neuplatonismus nicht besprochen? Das Buch hdtte etwas systematischer gestaltet werden konnen : die Frage, wie und weshalb der Neid in die griechi- sche Philosophie hineinkommt, wird nicht gestellt. Weiter ver- misst man Stellen- und Sachregister. SOESTERBERG, Chr. Huygenslaan 26 J. MANSFELD DE NOVIS LIBRIS IUDICIA F. LASSERRE, The Birth of Mathematics in the Age of Plato. London, Hutchinson, 1964. 191 p. Pr. sh. 30/-. Almost half of Lasserre's book is devoted to Eudoxus of Cnidus, whom he rightly regards as the greatest mathematician of Plato's time. In the chapters concerned with him (IV and V) the author comes closer to his subject (the "crucial phase in the quarter of a century which followed the introduction of mathematics into the programme of studies at Plato's Academy") than in the preceding chapters. Still he does not make clear to the reader why this phase was crucial and what is the real greatness of Eudoxus. Of course, the all-important problem of the irrational proportions is mentioned, but not treated in the exact manner the subject requires. Lapses like "definitions of the irrational n1tmbers stated by Theaetetus" (p. 17), or "For the square with side I unit, the diagonal being necessarily shorter than 2 and longer than I, it was easy to show that it was irreducible to any unit But there was no general proof of the incommensurability of the diagonals of squares with their sides" (p. 65), if they are lapses, are confusing, to say the least of it. The problem of continuity is treated still more superficially. So neither the real importance of Eudoxus' theory of proportions nor that of his method of exhaustion is brought nearer to the reader. However, as a readable compilation of facts about Eudoxus and his contemporaries the book has some value. ZUTPHEN, Deventerweg 36 W. VAN DER WIELEN

Journal

Mnemosyne – Brill

Published: Jan 1, 1966

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