John Wallis (1616-1703) was the most influential English mathematician prior to Newton. He published his most famous work, Arithmetica Infinitorum, in Latin in 1656. This book studied the quadrature of curves and systematised the analysis of Descartes and Cavelieri. Upon publication, this text immediately became the standard book on the subject and was frequently referred to by subsequent writers. This will be the first English translation of this text ever to be published.

Wallis was one of the most original mathematicians of the seventeenth century and he left his mark on mathematics in many ways. He introduced arithmetical limits into mathematics (his famous infinite-product expression for $\pi$ is an example). This book presents his work.

Distinctions of Reason and Reasonable Distinctions is an intellectual biography of John Wallis (1616-1703), professor of mathematics at Oxford for over half a century. His career spans the political tumult of the English Civil Wars, the religious upheaval of the Church of England, and the fascinating developments in mathematics and natural philosophy. His ability to navigate this terrain and advance human learning in the academic world was facilitated by his use of the Jesuit Francisco Suarez’s theory of distinctions. This Roman Catholic’s philosophy in the hands of a Protestant divine fostered an instrumentalism necessary to bridge the old and new. With this tool, Wallis brought modern science into the university and helped form the Royal Society.

Mathematics and the Divine seem to correspond to diametrically opposed tendencies of the human mind. Does the mathematician not seek what is precisely defined, and do the objects intended by the mystic and the theologian not lie beyond definition? Is mathematics not Man's search for a measure, and isn't the Divine that which is immeasurable ?The present book shows that the domains of mathematics and the Divine, which may seem so radically separated, have throughout history and across cultures, proved to be intimately related. Religious activities such as the building of temples, the telling of ritual stories or the drawing of enigmatic figures all display distinct mathematical features. Major philosophical systems dealing with the Absolute and theological speculations focussing on our knowledge of the Ultimate have been based on or inspired by mathematics. A series of chapters by an international team of experts highlighting key figures, schools and trains of thought is presented here. Chinese number mysticism, the views of Pythagoras and Plato and their followers, Nicholas of Cusa's theological geometry, Spinozism and intuitionism as a philosophy of mathematics are treated side by side among many other themes in an attempt at creating a global view on the relation of mathematics and Man's quest for the Absolute in the course of history.·Mathematics and man's quest for the Absolute·A selective history highlighting key figures, schools and trains of thought ·An international team of historians presenting specific new findings as well as general overviews·Confronting and uniting otherwise compartmentalized information

Vol. 2: This is the second in a six volume compendium on the correspondences of John Wallis (1616-1703). Wallis was Savilian Professor of Geometry at Oxford from 1649 until his death, and was a founding member of the Royal Society and a central figure in the scientific and intellectual history of England.