World of mathematics. Vol. 1 and 2 (Q2770451)

Clearly, the title of this encyclopedy is quite presumptious: nobody may claim to present the world of mathematics in a book. In fact, what you call ``your'' world of mathematics depends of course on your horizon. According to Hilbert, most people have only a horizon of radius zero, and they are even proud to call it their ``point of view''. This is especially true in mathematics, and so it is commendable to write such a book. The level of presentation is suitable to school students, while students of mathematics, physics, or natural sciences will find almost no relevant information. There is one exception from this statement, however, viz. the large collection of biographies of mathematicians. The reviewer found this to be the most interesting, and perhaps the only interesting, part of the encyclopedy.