Walter William Rouse Ball

A Short Account of the History of Mathematics Walter William Rouse Ball

Walter William Rouse Ball (1850-1925) was an English mathematician best known for his popular books on the History of Mathematics and on Mathematical Recreations. He was also a keen amateur magician, and the founding president of the Cambridge Pentacle Club in 1919, one of the world's oldest magic societies. Educated at University College School, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1870, became a scholar and first Smith's Prizeman, and gained his BA in 1874 as second Wrangler. He became a Fellow of Trinity in 1875, and remained one for the rest of his life. "A short account of the history of mathematics" (first published in 1888) provided a very readable and popular account of the subject. This work is newly typeset and illustrated.