Abstract
MOST students, on taking up this book, will be disposed to ask, “Is there any room or necessity for another work on the Calculus just now? Is not Williamson up to date.?” Mr. Roberts gives no sign, and so we are led to search out for ourselves a reason for the existence of the work, and a justification of the same. In his two previous books our author makes great use of elliptic functions, and a chapter is devoted to the discus sion of them in the book before us, and, further, this fact is prominently noted on the title-page; hence we conclude that Mr. Roberts has had in view mainly the treatment of these integrals, and to make his treatise self-sufficient he has surrounded this special subject with such preliminaries and accessories as he deems suitable for the elucidation of his theme. The author has produced a capital book, for he writes with extreme care, and full knowledge and command of his subject. There appears to us to be in many parts a novel treatment—i.e. considering the matter in the light of English treatises on the Calculus—and there is copious illustration. There is large opportunity for practice afforded by the numerous examples inserted in the body of the work, and also at the end. Many of these are not intended, or at any rate are not suitable, for babes; they are strong meat for adults. There is an index and the usual table of contents.
A Treatise on the Integral Calculus.
Part I. Containing an Elementary Account of Elliptic Integrals and Applications to Plane Curves, with numerous Examples. By Ralph A. Roberts (Dublin: Hodges, 1887.)
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Our Book Shelf . Nature 37, 75 (1887). https://doi.org/10.1038/037075a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/037075a0