Elegant four-volume set of books, edited by James R. Newman, covering the subject of mathematics from Egyptian papyri to the 1950's, when it was written. A true treasure trove for the math-minded, it contains such gems as Robert Recorde's "Inquiry into the Causes of Mortality" (the first actuarial tables), the proof that 1+1=2, the definition of number from Bertrand Russell's Principles of Mathematics, an exposition of Godel's Proof, Alan Turing's "Can Machines Think?", and many other gems, up to and including a story by Aldous Huxley. Worn to shreds in most libraries I've seen, it's recently come out in a one-volume compilation version. Thank Heavens!