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Huge Numbers: A Story of Counting Ambitiously, from 4 1/2 to Fish 7
How humanity’s long pursuit of ever-larger numbers broke the boundaries of mathematics and propelled us into the Information Age
What if, every time you wanted to write down 1,000,000, you had to draw a picture of a god? And what if that number were the biggest you had a symbol for? If you were doing math in ancient Egypt, those were the rules: Anything bigger broke math.
As mathematician Richard Elwes shows in Huge Numbers, this is the strange story of math. Even today, writing down some numbers is beyond us: Try it with all the zeroes in a googolplex, or an outrageous alien number like TREE(3). Safer not to try—even harnessing every particle in the universe, you wouldn’t come close. But this book is no mere bestiary of numerical monsters. It shows how, by hunting down and studying ever-bigger numbers, arithmetic has reshaped human thought and made our modern era of science and computation possible.
Where many math books celebrate abstract algebra or ineffable infinities, Huge Numbers is both more practical and far weirder. It reveals a world where most numbers remain out of reach until we discover how to chase them down and tame them, and so remake our world again.
What if, every time you wanted to write down 1,000,000, you had to draw a picture of a god? And what if that number were the biggest you had a symbol for? If you were doing math in ancient Egypt, those were the rules: Anything bigger broke math.
As mathematician Richard Elwes shows in Huge Numbers, this is the strange story of math. Even today, writing down some numbers is beyond us: Try it with all the zeroes in a googolplex, or an outrageous alien number like TREE(3). Safer not to try—even harnessing every particle in the universe, you wouldn’t come close. But this book is no mere bestiary of numerical monsters. It shows how, by hunting down and studying ever-bigger numbers, arithmetic has reshaped human thought and made our modern era of science and computation possible.
Where many math books celebrate abstract algebra or ineffable infinities, Huge Numbers is both more practical and far weirder. It reveals a world where most numbers remain out of reach until we discover how to chase them down and tame them, and so remake our world again.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published April 28, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 3, 2026
Huge Numbers by Richard Elwes is intended to be a fun little jaunt down mathematical lane. The book is divided into three parts: the first I loved, the second I liked, the third... meh, not so much.
The first part goes into the history and theory of numbers. It talks of things like the brain science of counting, if animals count, and how the Hindi numeral system (that many mistakenly call Arabic) came to dominate over Roman, Egyptian, Babylonian (base 60), and Mayan number systems.
The second part goes into practical applications of huge numbers. We have Archimedes' sand reckoner, cosmology in regards to space and time, and the number of computational outcomes in games like Chess and Go! and how AI is crunching those numbers to beat humans.
The third part gets a bit repetitive. It is supposed to be dealing with googology (the study of big numbers) but really deals with exponents. It basically is chapter after chapter of "oh look, mathematician x has developed exponential equation y that has an even greater rate of increase than anyone else ever thought of." Honestly, the book would have been better off just writing the first two parts and crunching part three into an Appendix or two. I would have also enjoyed a bit more on the games various mathematicians and philosophers play with infinity. I know it technically doesn't count as a number. But still...
The first part goes into the history and theory of numbers. It talks of things like the brain science of counting, if animals count, and how the Hindi numeral system (that many mistakenly call Arabic) came to dominate over Roman, Egyptian, Babylonian (base 60), and Mayan number systems.
The second part goes into practical applications of huge numbers. We have Archimedes' sand reckoner, cosmology in regards to space and time, and the number of computational outcomes in games like Chess and Go! and how AI is crunching those numbers to beat humans.
The third part gets a bit repetitive. It is supposed to be dealing with googology (the study of big numbers) but really deals with exponents. It basically is chapter after chapter of "oh look, mathematician x has developed exponential equation y that has an even greater rate of increase than anyone else ever thought of." Honestly, the book would have been better off just writing the first two parts and crunching part three into an Appendix or two. I would have also enjoyed a bit more on the games various mathematicians and philosophers play with infinity. I know it technically doesn't count as a number. But still...
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August 1, 2026Huge Numbers: A Story of Counting Ambitiously, from 4 1/2 to Fish 7Richard Elwes
When I picked up Huge Numbers, I genuinely thought it would be full of formulas, theories, and mathematical proofs. But it turned out to be something completely different, and honestly, much more interesting.
This book isn't really about solving maths problems. It's about how humans learned to count, why numbers became so important, and how different civilizations came up with their own ways of understanding them. I never expected a book about numbers to be so connected with history, culture, and everyday life.
One of my favourite parts was learning that counting wasn't always something people naturally knew how to do. It was a skill that developed over time. The chapters on tally marks, early counting methods, and why standardized numbers became necessary were fascinating. It made me look at something as basic as counting in a completely different way.
I also loved reading about ancient civilizations like Mesopotamia, India, and China, and seeing how differently each of them approached numbers. The sections on Hindu-Arabic numerals and the experiments mentioned throughout the book were some of the most interesting parts for me because they showed how much thought and effort went into ideas we now take for granted.
What surprised me the most was how the book connected mathematics with history, mythology, and even superstitions. The reference to the Ramayana, where someone is sent to count Rama's army, was completely unexpected. It was such a simple example, but it showed how numbers have always been a part of stories and everyday life. I also enjoyed reading about how the beliefs around certain numbers change from one culture to another.
The writing is simple, engaging, and full of facts that make you stop for a second and think, "I never knew that." Even if you aren't someone who enjoys mathematics, I think you'll still appreciate this book because it focuses more on the story behind numbers than on calculations.
If you're someone who's naturally curious and likes learning how everyday things came to be, I would definitely recommend this book. It made me realize that numbers are much more than what we learn in school. They have shaped history, trade, science, and the way civilizations grew over time.
When I picked up Huge Numbers, I genuinely thought it would be full of formulas, theories, and mathematical proofs. But it turned out to be something completely different, and honestly, much more interesting.
This book isn't really about solving maths problems. It's about how humans learned to count, why numbers became so important, and how different civilizations came up with their own ways of understanding them. I never expected a book about numbers to be so connected with history, culture, and everyday life.
One of my favourite parts was learning that counting wasn't always something people naturally knew how to do. It was a skill that developed over time. The chapters on tally marks, early counting methods, and why standardized numbers became necessary were fascinating. It made me look at something as basic as counting in a completely different way.
I also loved reading about ancient civilizations like Mesopotamia, India, and China, and seeing how differently each of them approached numbers. The sections on Hindu-Arabic numerals and the experiments mentioned throughout the book were some of the most interesting parts for me because they showed how much thought and effort went into ideas we now take for granted.
What surprised me the most was how the book connected mathematics with history, mythology, and even superstitions. The reference to the Ramayana, where someone is sent to count Rama's army, was completely unexpected. It was such a simple example, but it showed how numbers have always been a part of stories and everyday life. I also enjoyed reading about how the beliefs around certain numbers change from one culture to another.
The writing is simple, engaging, and full of facts that make you stop for a second and think, "I never knew that." Even if you aren't someone who enjoys mathematics, I think you'll still appreciate this book because it focuses more on the story behind numbers than on calculations.
If you're someone who's naturally curious and likes learning how everyday things came to be, I would definitely recommend this book. It made me realize that numbers are much more than what we learn in school. They have shaped history, trade, science, and the way civilizations grew over time.
July 1, 2026
Very complex
Though aimed at a general audience (i.e. popular science), I doubt whether someone without an advanced degree in mathematics could understand much of this book. He builds up from high levels of exponenation to numbers that can't be even conceived by the human mind.
Though aimed at a general audience (i.e. popular science), I doubt whether someone without an advanced degree in mathematics could understand much of this book. He builds up from high levels of exponenation to numbers that can't be even conceived by the human mind.
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May 26, 2026Work book! Cool stuff
August 12, 2026
A fascinating history of counting that covers much more than just huge numbers. Highest recommendation for anyone that likes history and math.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews