2015 Beckenbach Book Prize Winner

The Beckenbach Book Prize, established in 1986, is the successor to the MAA Book Prize established in 1982. It is named for the late Edwin Beckenbach, a long-time leader in the publications program of the Association and a well-known professor of mathematics at the University of California at Los Angeles. The Prize of $2,500 is intended to recognize the author(s) of a distinguished, innovative book published by the MAA and to encourage the writing of such books. The award is not given on a regularly scheduled basis. To be considered for the Beckenbach Prize a book must have been published during the five years preceding the Award.

The 2015 Beckenbach Book Prize winner is:

Lobachevski Illuminated

By Seth Braver

PDF Price: $28.00

Print-on-Demand Price: $47.50

Mathematicians of all stripes know that the non-Euclidean revolution was a game-changer in 19^th  century mathematics. But relatively few mathematicians are acquainted with the little book that heralded this revolution: Nikolai Lobachevski’s Theory of Parallels (in German, 1840).

Seth Braver has come to our rescue. In Lobachevski Illuminated, he gives us a translation of the text, accompanies each of its 37 propositions with an extensive commentary, and places these ideas in their proper historical context. As a result, Braver has done nothing less than give new life to an old masterpiece.

The reader of Lobachevski Illuminated will encounter a host of provocative questions, will delve deeply into the history of geometry, and will gain a thorough appreciation of the genius of Nikolai Lobachevski.