Born in Rehovot, Israel, he grew up in Jerusalem where his father, Shlomo Alexander, was a professor of physics at the UCLA and the Hebrew University and his mother, Esther Alexander, was an economist and social activist. He obtained a B.S. from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1988 in mathematics and history, before moving to the United States, where he obtained an M.A. in history of science from Stanford University in 1990, and a Ph.D. in history of science from Stanford University in 1996.
Books in order of publication:
Geometrical Landscapes: The Voyages of Discovery and the Transformation of Mathematical Practice – 2002
Duel at Dawn: Heroes, Martyrs, and the Rise of Modern Mathematics – 2010
Infinitesimal: How a Dangerous Mathematical Theory Shaped the Modern World – 2014
Proof!: How the World Became Geometrical – 2019
Liberty’s Grid: A Founding Father, a Mathematical Dreamland, and the Shaping of America – 2024
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