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I am looking for a book on the history of mathematics that would also serve as a book on the history of physics. In the sense that the history of math is developed along with the developments in physics during the time and explaining some influences both ways. Or the other way, a book that develops the history of physics also with the developments in math.

Many thanks in advance for all your suggestions!

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  • $\begingroup$ Both physics and math have such a long history that books devoted to each often leave a lot out. Considering that during the middle of the 19th century physics and math started diverging quickly, it becomes difficult to track both at the same time. However the interaction between math and mechanics&optics is very documented. Howard Eves "An Introduction to the History of Mathematics" covers, although briefly, a lot of this cross-pollination. After this period the interests diverged, you could see Dyson's "missed opportunities" where he covers how physics missed opportunities (!) to employ math $\endgroup$ Aug 26, 2018 at 17:37
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    $\begingroup$ What I was trying to say is that the scope of the question appears too broad, but that good books indeed exist for narrow parts of physics, so I think the OP would benefit from trying to specify a part of physics or a given time period $\endgroup$ Aug 26, 2018 at 17:40
  • $\begingroup$ It is hard to tell from the description what you looking for, any book on history of physics addresses mathematical developments, to explain concepts and formulas if nothing else. You can try Kline's Mathematics and the Physical World or Lanczos's Space through the Ages. $\endgroup$
    – Conifold
    Aug 26, 2018 at 21:28

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