Beginning with the Babylonian and Egyptian mathematicians of antiquity, Ivor Grattan-Guinness presents a comprehensive and authoritative account of the development of the subject that lies at the heart of many sciences.

Beginning with the Babylonian and Egyptian mathematicians of antiquity, Ivor Grattan-Guinness charts the growth of mathematics through its refinement by ancient Greeks and then medieval Arabs, to its systematic development by Europeans from the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century. The book describes the evolution of arithmetic and geometry, trigonometry and algebra, the interplay between mathematics, physics, and mathematical astronomy, and "new" branches such as probability and statistics, "succeeding masterfully in viewing the history of mathematics from a new perspective".