Here's an entertaining (IMHO) history of numbers narrated by Terry Jones of Monty Python fame. It doesn't go as far as calculus and more advanced forms of mathematics, but I think even VAXman might be amused/enlightened by it. I learned a couple of things whilst I was watching, for example, I wasn't aware that Leibniz had come up with binary in the 1600s, or at least I don't remember that I knew that. So without further ado, here's the link:
http://throwawayyourtv.com/2006/11/story-of-one.html
Based on the wikipedia account of Leibniz, he also developed calculus independently of Newton. I was unaware of or at least had forgotten that as well. I had certainly heard of Leibniz, but I guess I really hadn't grasped his accomplishments apparently. He was also the founder of the philosophical school of optimism, which I'm pretty sure I never knew. My take on optimism is different from his I think, at least in requiring a supreme being, but like us all he was a man of his time. I have not yet had the opportunity to read the whole wikipedia article, but I also find it interesting and intend to do so. I think the internet, and whatever it evolves into, may be our saving grace as a species
. Here's the link to his wikipedia article, of course it contains many links that folks might find interesting, as most wikipedia links do:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottfried_Leibniz
The children of this age will bury us with their knowledge, I hope...
