This is an account of the history of mathematics as it is revealed in the lives and writings of the most distinguished practitioners of the art, such as Archimedes, Descartes, Fermat, Pascal, Newton, Leibniz, Euler, Gauss, Hamilton and Einstein. In his account of their lives, the author introduces and explains the part these figures have played in the development of mathematics and how their work relates to the discipline. While the emphasis in his survey is primarily biographical, the author also discusses major historical themes and explains new ideas and techniques. Stuart Hollingdale assumes on the part of the reader no mathematical knowledge beyond GCSE level.