First published in 1941, it discusses number theory, geometry, topology and calculus. A second edition was published in 1996 with an additional chapter on recent progress in mathematics, written by Ian Stewart.
The book was based on Courant's course material. Although Robbins assisted in writing a large part of the book, he had to fight for authorship. Nevertheless, Courant alone held the copyright for the book. This resulted in Robbins receiving a smaller share of the royalties.[1][2]
Michael Katehakis remembers Robbins' interest in the literature and Tolstoy in particular and he is convinced that the title of the book is most likely due to Robbins, who was inspired by the title of the essay What Is Art?byLeo Tolstoy. Robbins did the same in the book Great Expectations: The Theory of Optimal Stopping he co-authored with Yuan-Shih Chow and David Siegmund, where one can not miss the connection with the title of the novel Great ExpectationsbyCharles Dickens.
The first Russian translation Что такое математика? was published in 1947; there were 5 translations since then, the last one in 2010.
The first Italian translation, Che cos'è la matematica?, was published in 1950. А translation of the second edition was issued in 2000.
The first German translation Was ist Mathematik?byIris Runge was published in 1962.
A Spanish translation of the second edition, ¿Qué Son Las Matemáticas?, was published in 2002.
The first Bulgarian translation, Що е математика?, was published in 1967. А second translation appeared in 1985.
The first Romanian translation, Ce este matematica?, was published in 1969.
The first Polish translation, Co to jest matematyka, was published in 1959. А second translation appeared in 1967. А translation of the second edition was published in 1998.
The first Hungarian translation, Mi a matematika?, was published in 1966.
The first Serbian translation, Šta je matematika?, was published in 1973.
The first Japanese translation, 数学とは何か, was published in 1966. А translation of the second edition was published in 2001.
A Korean translation of the second edition, 수학이란 무엇인가, was published in 2000.
A Portuguese translation of the second edition, O que é matemática?, was published in 2000.
Richard Courant and Herbert Robbins (1941). What is Mathematics?: An Elementary Approach to Ideas and Methods. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-502517-2. Reprinted several times with a few corrections of minor errors and misprints as a "Second Edition" in 1943, as a "Third Edition" in 1945, as a "Fourth Edition" in 1947", as "Ninth Printing" in 1958 and as "Tenth Printing" in 1960, and in 1978.[3][4]
Courant, Richard; Robbins, Herbert (2015). Qu'est-ce que les mathématiques ? Une introduction élémentaire aux idées et aux méthodes. Cassini. ISBN9782842252045. French translation of the second English edition by Marie Anglade and Karine Py.
Courant, Richard; Robbins, Herbert; Stewart, Ian (2002). ¿Qué Son Las Matemáticas? Conceptos y métodos fundamentales (in Spanish). México, D. F.: Fondo de Cultura Económica. ISBN968-16-6717-4. Spanish translation of the second English edition.
Courant, Richard; Robbins, Herbert (1950). Che cos'è la matematica? Introduzione elementare ai suoi concetti e metodi (in Italian). Turin: Einaudi. (first Italian translation, from the 1945 English edition)
Courant, Richard; Robbins, Herbert (1971). Che cos'è la matematica? Introduzione elementare ai suoi concetti e metodi (in Italian). Turin: Boringhieri. (based on the previous Eianudi's edition)
Courant, Richard; Robbins, Herbert (1984). Toán học là gì (in Vietnamese). Hanoi: Khoa học Kỹ thuật. (Vietnamese translation by Hàn Liên Hải from the Russian edition)
Courant, Richard; Robbins, Herbert; Stewart, Ian (2000). Che cos'è la matematica? Introduzione elementare ai suoi concetti e metodi (in Italian). Turin: Bollati Boringhieri. ISBN88-339-1200-0. (Italian translation of the second English edition)
^Page, Warren; Robbins, Herbert (1984), "An Interview with Herbert Robbins", The College Mathematics Journal, 15 (1), The Mathematical Association of America: 5, doi:10.2307/3027425, JSTOR3027425
^ abReid, Constance, Courant in Göttingen and New York. The story of an improbable mathematician. Springer-Verlag, New York-Heidelberg, 1976. ii+314 pp.
^Courant, Richard and Robbins, Herbert Ellis, What is Mathematics?, Oxford University Press, London-New York-Toronto, Tenth Printing, 1960. xix+521 pp.
^Courant, Richard and Robbins, Herbert Ellis, What is Mathematics?, Oxford University Press, London-New York-Toronto, 1978.
