Unknown Quanitity - A real imagined history of Algebra

An elegantly written and book about the history of algebra came to the general reader, but which nevertheless contains a considerable number of equations without which the text would make much sense. The key to understanding algebra is to regard it as a sophisticated form of an abstraction, which also applies to mathematics in general. The book begins with a primer on algebra before going back to Babylonian times to trace its history. The many colourful characters who contributed significant advances are conjured up in the context of the time. These include Hypatia of Alexandria, Leibniz, Lagrange, Sir William Hamilton and the less well-known Evariste Galois, who was killed in a duel at the age of 20. In addition, there are some delightful asides: for instance in the section on Omar Khayyam, we learn that an elaborate jewelled copy of the 1859 edition of his Rubaiyat went down with the Titanic. An engaging and highly readable book.