Augustus De Morgan, Polymath

This very enjoyable book shines a bright and scholarly light on many facets of De Morgan’s interesting and colourful life, both academic and personal.  As the author of more than 2,200 publications, the owner of just under 4,000 books, and the writer of countless letters and manuscripts, De Morgan is not an easy man to pin down.  The editors are to be congratulated for assembling such a diverse, yet integrated, set of essays which not only capture the essence of one of 19th century British mathematics’ most remarkable characters but also provide a comprehensive finding aid to the wealth of De Morgan’s papers and publications.

For anyone interested in mathematics in nineteenth-century Britain, this book is essential reading. It would also serve as an excellent introduction to De Morgan for those who do not yet know him. Moreover, it contains accounts of aspects of De Morgan’s life and work that cannot be found anywhere else. At the same time, the book does not pretend to be the final word on De Morgan, but instead opens the door to further investigation. The various chapters are engagingly written, and manage to capture De Morgan’s unique voice and character, not just his wit and his irreverence, but also his deep commitment to intellectual honesty. The range covered by the chapters also quietly answers the question of why we should be interested in De Morgan: through him, we gain insight into many aspects of the times in which he lived. The fact that such a book has resulted from bringing together contributors from a range of fields speaks to the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration in historical scholarship.