Docent Press publishes original books focused on the history of mathematics and computing. Our current and forthcoming titles encompass biographic studies of major figures such as Bertrand Russell, Charles S. Peirce and Mina Rees as well as histories of mathematical topics such as nomography, recursive functions and computability, the mediant, and mathematical education.

Comments from Docent Press reviewers highlight the intrinsic interest and historical importance of the titles we publish:

“Nomograms are one of the forgotten technologies of computing, neglected even by historians. A nomogram consisted of a printed graphical chart that was easy to use and inexpensive to replicate, which facilitate almost instant, specialized calculations. A mainstream calculating method from the 1890s until he 1950s, nomograms were widely used in areas a diverse as military engineering, ballistics, astronomy, navigation and surveying. This important book is the first modern treatment of nomograms and is a most welcome addition to the literature of the history of computing.”
Martin Campbell-Kelly, Emeritus Professor, Warwick University

“Recursive functions and related logical notions of computability are fundamental to modern mathematical logic. Kurt Gödel used them in a crucial way in his celebrated result on the incompleteness of formal arithmetic. Before Gödel, mathematicians and logicians such as Dedekind, Peano, Skolem, Hilbert, and Ackermann had explored them for reasons related to the foundations of mathematics. Rod Adams’ book, originally his thesis of 1983, explores the sweep of the history of recursive function theory and computabilit. Dr. Adams provides an excellent and readily understandable view of the history for those interested in mathematical logic and its history during a particularly important time of its overall development.”
Dale M. Johnson, Department Head, The MITRE Corporation

“A welcome short biography, with the mathematics clearly explained, this book places Mina Rees’s work in the contexts of academic mathematics, public support for mathematical work from sources as different as the Office of Naval Research and the City University of New York, and the increasing prominence of women in 20th century American science.”
Judith V. Grabiner, Flora Sanborn Pitzer Professor of Mathematics, Pitzer College

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