The Book of Numbers: From Zero to Infinity, an Entertaining List of Every Number that Counts

by Tim Glynne-Jones

Within these pages, every number of significance is listed together with its special qualities and associations, featuring explanations, for example, of how a pack of playing cards came to have fifty-two cards, or why there are fifty-two weeks in a year. Where else in one place could you find out how the illegal numbers racket works, what makes some people see numbers as colors, why the standard US rail gauge exactly matches the axle width of an ancient Roman chariot, and the numerological connection between Adolf Hitler and Osama Bin Laden? Our lives are ruled by numbers and this book tells you about every one that counts.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mathematics, Science, Childrens

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Tim has been writing professionally since 1985, when he became a wide-eyed journalist on a music magazine. He went on to work for various consumer magazines, including More, Auto Express, Top Gear and Match of the Day, which he launched as editor in 1996. He wrote his first book, A Game of Two Halves - Football Yesterday and Today, in 2002 and has since written over 30 non-fiction titles on everything from football to the English language. In 2018 he self-published Word of the Week: Volume One, his first foray into self-publishing.

Reviews

[Tweedledum · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun , if at times mind boggling read. Who knew that 70 was a "weird number" for some reason I am still trying to fathom out? Or that a billion and it's successors relate to different quantities in Europe and the USA? And who on earth wants to join the "Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search" and why....? Then there's the whole barcode controversy.....

Right at the end of the book I come across a term I had long ago consigned to "useless information I once trotted out in exams..... " Avogadro's number" or constant. I would respectfully suggest that anybody reading this review who knows what that is, without first looking it up, might benefit from getting out more..... (Unless you are a actually a chemist and actively using it in your work... But even then....)

Much of the early section of this book would greatly enliven maths lessons and help to motivate some able students who nevertheless struggle with computation.. One doesn't have to understand it to appreciate it....

The book of numbers, as well as demonstrating many amazing number facts is also a book that seeks to break down the boundaries between subjects and encourages the reader to think out of the box. Tim Glynne-Jones has kindly done a lot of the hard work of this by signposting to people, places and history.

Dip in and enjoy.

[Jonathan Sisk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of quirky and interesting but lots of misquoted cliches, typos and some just plain incorrect info made it kind of frustrating. Reads like a Google doc that someone has been tossing anecdotes into for years. Could definitely use another run through by an editor BUT overall it was pretty entertaining.

[Vincenzo Asaro · Rating 3 out of 5]

It gives you some hints and some nice stories.
It's a good book to read before sleeping, but do not think you're going to learn math with the book!

[mono]

A trivia book on numbers, no references though. I think I was looking for Conway's book >.>

[Chris Waterford · Rating 1 out of 5]

Basic and lightweight
3/10

[Chuck Ledger · Rating 2 out of 5]

This kind of book is right in my wheel house, but I was disappointed with the book. The credibility of the information was called into question when I came across the first mistake. The second mistake ruined the rest of the book for me. I kept wonder which other 'facts' were wrong. Also, I agree with another reviewer that using song titles and lyrics to fill out the content seems like a lazy way out.

[SWC · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned the background to Thousand Island Dressing. The number 100 is the total of the first ten odd numbers and also the first nine prime numbers. This book is a collection of mathematics and folklore about numbers.

[Christopher Bradford · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this book would be more mathematical than it was. While it does talk some about the mathematical significance of some numbers, the majority of the book is just random facts having to do with the number in question. I found myself many times wondering why some of the information was even being shared because it was totally worthless. At least for someone hoping for more math.