Ernst Zermelo. An Approach to His Life and Work

A book about numbers sounds rather dull. This one is not. Instead it is a lively story about one thread of mathematics – the concept of "number" – told by eight authors and organized into a historical narrative that leads the reader from ancient Egypt to the late twentieth century. It is a story that begins with some of the simplest ideas of mathematics and ends with some of the most complex. It is a story that mathematicians, both amateur and professional, ought to know. [...]
This is not a book for the faint-hearted, however. While it starts with material that every undergraduate could (and should) learn, the reader is progressively challenged as the chapters progress into the twentieth century. The chapters often tell about people and events, but they primarily tell about mathematics. Undergraduates can certainly read large parts of this book, but mastering the material in late chapters requires work, even for mature mathematicians. This is a book that can be read on several levels, by amateurs and professionals alike. [...]