Duel at dawn

In 'Duel at Dawn', Amir Alexander explores the shift in mathematics from a practical study of nature during the Enlightenment to a more abstract and self-contained discipline during the Romantic era.

The book delves into the lives of mathematicians such as Évariste Galois, Niels Henrik Abel, and Janos Bolyai, highlighting their contributions and how they became romanticized as heroes and martyrs.

Alexander skillfully weaves the mathematical developments with the cultural and societal changes of the time.