History in the mathematics classroom; The history of mathematics in a large nutshell; Sketches: 1. Keeping count - writing whole numbers; 2. Reading and writing arithmetic - where the symbols came 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 p; 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.

Beyond counting - infinity and the theory of sets; What to read next; Bibliography; Index.