Here are some of the best maths books ever written. Many more could be added to the list...Please do.

  • The Elements by Euclid
    The foundations of geometry. Interestingly there is now some doubt over whether Euclid wrote this book alone or whether he was the leader of a team of mathematicians. Some even doubt that he was a real historical figure.
  • Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica by Isaac Newton
    The Principia is one of the greatest scientific works ever. It made startling advances in planetary motion and the theory of gravity.
  • Disquisitiones Arithmeticae by Carl Friedrich Gauss
    Important work in number theory (although it also contains a ruler and compass construction of a regular 17-gon, the first progress in this field since the ancient Greeks).
    Éléments de Géométrie Algébrique by Alexander Grothendieck
    Completely rewrote alebraic geometry from the beginning. An enormously influential book.
  • Atlas of Finite Groups by John H. Conway, Robert T. Curtis, Simon P. Norton, Richard A. Parker and Robert A. Wilson
    The character tables in this book represent the main ingredient in, and a summary of, the classification of finite simple groups. It is the ultimate coffee table book because it so big you can put your coffee cups on it!

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