Mathematics and the antiquity. A text based on the notes of the lectures on ``The history of mathematical thought'' of Professor José Sebastião e Silva. (Q2761239)

José Sebastião e Silva (1914-1972) was a distinguished Portuguese analysist. He was responsible for the formation of an entire generation of Portuguese mathematicians. He was also most interested in Mathematics Education and History of Mathematics. This book is a transcription of the course on ``History of Mathematical Thinking'', given by Sebastião e Silva in 1969-1970. It is an effort to organize, as a book, classroom notes taken by his students. The book, limited to Greek antiquity, starts with a discussion of pre-Hellenic thinking and finishes with Archimedes and Ptolemy. Punctuated with reflections on modern mathematical developments, this small book is more than a brief history of Greek mathematics. It is a precious opportunity to learn the views of a mathematician, with a vast general culture, on the evolution of mathematical ideas, as related to philosophical thinking. The result is an interesting and very useful book, not only for undergraduate students, but challenging also to graduate students and faculty, in mathematics and other areas.