Our purpose here is to present mathematics as it really is: a vast panorama of ideas, whose history reflects some of the most noble thoughts of mankind. This book represents an attempt, although on a limited scale, to convey some of this to the reader who perhaps has little technical or mathematical background, but who is truly interested in ideas and understanding certain aspects of the world around us. The material would also be appropriate to high school or community college teachers who seek an overview of mathematics so they can see through the formalities of the standard curriculum and, in turn, convey to their students some of the real scope and power to be found in mathematical ideas. Selections from the subject matter presented here would also be very suitable for a college pre-calculus course. Indeed, one of our objectives is to try to find and to understand some real mathematics without the reader needing to have a knowledge of calculus...