Includes bibliographical references (p. 199-206) and index.

[pt. 1]. History in the mathematics classroom -- [pt. 2]. The history of mathematics in a large nutshell -- Beginnings -- Greek mathematics -- Meanwhile, in India -- Arabic mathematics -- Medieval Europe -- The 15th and 16th centuries -- Algebra comes of age -- Calculus and applied mathematics -- Rigor and professionalism -- Abstraction, computers, and new applications -- Mathematics today -- [pt. 3]. Sketches -- 1. Keeping count : writing whole numbers -- 2. Reading and writing arithmetic : where the symbols come from -- 3. Nothing becomes a number : the story of zero -- 4. Broken numbers : writing fractions -- 5. Something less than nothing : negative numbers -- 6. By tens and tenths : metric measurement -- 7. Measuring the circle : the story of [pi] -- 8. The Cossic art : writing algebra with symbols -- 9. Linear thinking : solving first degree equations -- 10. A square and things : quadratic equations -- 11. Intrigue in Renaissance Italy : solving cubic equations -- 12. A cheerful fact : the Pythagorean theorem -- 13. A marvelous proof : Fermat's last theorem -- 14. On beauty bare : Euclid's plane geometry -- 15. In perfect shape : the platonic solids -- 16. Shapes by the numbers : coordinate geometry -- 17. Impossible, imaginary, useful : complex numbers -- 18. Half is better : sine and cosine -- 19. Strange new worlds : the non-Euclidean geometries -- 20. In the eye of the beholder : projective geometry -- 21. What's in a game : the start of probability theory -- 22. Making sense of data : statistics becomes a science -- 23. Machines that think : electronic computers -- 24. The arithmetic of reasoning : logic and Boolean algebra -- 25. Beyond counting : infinity and the theory of sets.