Higher arithmetic

Following Gauss in his first systematic treatise on it in 1801, Edwards (emeritus, mathematics, New York U.) prefers higher arithmetic to number theory as the name for the general study of specific relations among whole numbers. Theory is about thinking, he explains, and arithmetic is about doing, and he found in his courses that students would rather do calculations than listen to him talk about them. Therefore, he includes many exercises in this introduction for readers who do not necessarily have a deep background in mathematics. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)