The Book of Numbers: The Secret of Numbers and How They Changed the World

by Peter J. Bentley

Unraveling the secrets of numbers, from the discovery of zero to infinity. In clear language, The Book of Numbers cuts through the mystery and fear surrounding numbers to reveal their fascinating nature and roles in architecture, quantum mechanics, computer technology, biology, commerce, philosophy, art, music, religion and more. Indeed, numbers are part of every discipline in the sciences and the arts. With 350 illustrations, including diagrams, photographs and computer imagery, the book chronicles the centuries-long search for the meaning of numbers by famous and lesser-known mathematicians, and explains the puzzling aspects of the mathematical world. Topics The Book of Numbers shows enthusiastically that numbers are neither boring nor dull but rather involve intriguing connections, rivalries, secret documents and even mysterious deaths.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mathematics, Science

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Dr Peter Bentley is an Honorary Reader and Senior College Teacher at the Department of Computer Science, University College London and is known for his research covering all aspects of Evolutionary Computation and Digital Biology. He is the author of the popular science books Digital Biology, The Undercover Scientist and Digitized, and editor of the books Evolutionary Design by Computers, Creative Evolutionary Systems and On Growth, Form and Computers.

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite an interesting book. However there were a number of errors, including 9 allegedly being a prime number.

Additionally, despite the inside cover saying it 'captures something of the spirit of the men and women who have contributed to unraveling the secret of numbers', the only mention of women was after the index where it was suggested that women are missing from mathematics 'perhaps because women prefer more down-to-Earth and practical or cultural pursuits'. An alternative might be that they are missing because women weren't allowed to be involved in education and therefore female mathematicians actually had to hide the fact they were women.

As I said, interesting read, just missing an entire gender.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book I will definitely have in my classroom. It is full of great illustrations and interesting facts that I can use to get my students excited about math. My only complaint was that it was very poorly edited. I noticed several mistakes, and would definitely not depend on it without checking out the facts. It's a good attention-grabber though.

[Sini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oli mukavaa sukeltaa tämän kirjan avulla aina niin ihmeellisen matematiikan maailmaan. Kirja muistutti, kuinka kauniin täydellistä matematiikka on, ja toisaalta yllätti osoittamalla sen epätäydellisyyden. Tämä oli viihdyttävää luettavaa ja muistutti mieleeni pitkän matematiikan asioita, jotka olivat painuneet unholaan. Kirjan rakenne oli mielenkiintoinen sen aiheiden edetessä pienemmästä luvusta suurempaan, ja jokaisen luvun osalta käytiin läpi matematiikan ja sen pioneerien historiaa, mikä oli mielenkiintoista luettavaa. Paikoitellen olisin kaivannut enemmän rautalankatason selityksiä ymmärryksen tueksi. Lisäksi minusta esimerkiksi osuus kirjoittajan taikauskovastaisuudesta tuntui liian puolueelliselta tekstiltä verrattuna teoksen muuhun sisältöön - ihan kuin hänellä olisi ollut jotain hampaankolossa.

[Peter De Kinder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Een paar interessante anekdotes worden wel aangehaald in het boek, maar over het algemeen is het de wiskunde/geschiedenis aanstaren vanop een afstand, en nooit echt voorbij de oppervlakte graven. Het mist diepgang naar mijn smaak.

[Geert Daelemans · Rating 4 out of 5]

The love and beauty of math

Even for those people who were dreading those math classes during high school, this book might be a wonderful reintroduction to the powerful beauty of numbers. Peter Bentley takes the reader on a trip starting from the smallest numbers and ending with infinity. Each chapter describes the history of a specific number, being it Pi or Phi, and illustrates its use by showcasing some nice tidbits of knowledge. Although it does not seem obvious for a book about math, the author succeeds in filling the pages with hundreds of colourful illustrations. This makes a read-through extremely enjoyable and less those tedious math books some of you might remember from your school days.

Although sometimes the author does allow himself some liberties concerning the correct approach in explaining the material, and even in a few cases makes blatant errors, the reader must keep in mind that this book is not exactly intended for a specialist audience. Its greatest merit lies in creating an enthusiasm that hopefully will prompt the reader to buy or borrow another more specialized book of math. For me at least it enticed me into picking up paper and starting some small experiments with numbers. It helped certainly in feeding my love for mathematical beauty.

[Danijel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Str. 18- kljub vojnam med evropskimi deželami besede, ki so vsem jezikom skupne, dokazujejo, da izviramo iz istega kraja. Števila nas povezujejov skupno zgodovino.

Str. 180- (Blaise Pascal) je zapisal: "Če Bog ne obstaja, potem človek ne izgubi ničesar, če verjame vanj. Če pa obstaja, izgubi vse, če ne verjame vanj." To je postalo znano kot Pascalova stava - Pascal je sklepal, da smo v teh stvareh prisiljeni v kocjanje. Njegovo sklepanje pa ni bilo pravilno. (Tako na primer ne moremo izbirati naših prepričanj, kot da bi izbirali sadje z drevesa. Če bi to lahko počeli, bi izgubili POŠTENJE; ne moremo pa tudi vedeti, kakšne so posledice pomanjkanja vere v Boga).

Str. 247- ko veliko število bitij dinamično učinkuje drugo na drugo in se pri tem spreminja, nastajajo same od sebe nove oblike kompleksnosti ali zapletenosti, pa naj bo to pri evoluciji organizmov, letenju ptic v jatah, sporočanju imunski celic ali delovanju zavesti v možganih.

Str. 251- morda bomo nekega dne odkrili, da so vse niti v tkanju vesolja povezane med seboj. Morda so različni vzorci, ki jih vidimo, in različna števila le vidik ene same resnice.

~~~
Prisrčen pozdrav

mag. Danijel Brestovac | 040185969 | www.danijel-brestovac.weebly.com

[Nicolle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous insight into the world of numbers and how our everyday life revolves around them. I thoroughly enjoyed this book which was coherent even to a non-mathematician, and with the aid of pictures and diagrams was a joy to read. I may be biased being a lover of maths, but I would recommend this to anyone with a curiousity into what exactly makes the world tick.

Some odd facts from the books include that 'calculus' means pebble in latin, Einstein threatened to burn down his parent's home with them inside, and that there is a whole world of imaginary numbers which many people don't know about (i.e non-mathematicians or people who haven't read this book).

[John Markow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Third time reading this and it still delights. It’s extremely accessible for a book about mathematics, covering the key discoveries and key people throughout history using a format somewhere between a textbook and a magazine. The best part of it is the unique chapter division (-1, 0, 0.000000001, 1, root-2, phi, 2, e, 3, pi, 10, 12a, c, infinity, and I) which nicely puts things in a logical sequence. Many of the graphics are gratuitous, but who cares.

[Daniel Messer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic and entertaining look at the history of numbers, math, mathematicians, and their effects on today's world. Now, I grant you, you probably have to be a total math nerd to really get worked up over such a book, but you don't have to be a nerd to enjoy this one. Bentley writes with a conversational tone and keeps the subject lively, fun and, yes, even funny.

[Johann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly fun read considering the subject. Very informative somewhat historical and the speech is layman enough to grasp some of the more complicated ideas while being technical enough so as to not sacrifice detail. A good read for anyone struggling with liking math or wanting to explore the roots and growth of math outside of the mathmatica itself.

[Elemental · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first I only picked this book because my teacher told me to change up my reading- but this was great. It really helps pull the world into perspective around numbers and how ubiquitous they are, and what I was most surprised at was how much drama surrounded the history of numbers; they don't only influence history, they have a history of their own.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable & not too over the top. The historical information included would certainly made my math education in school more interesting.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some mistakes, but cool pictures and history.

[Tapani Aulu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kuuluu kirjoihin joiden ei toivoisi koskaan loppuvan. Joku numeroissa kiehtoo vuodesta ja kirjasta toiseen.

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Če imate kaj opraviti s števili profesionalno ali zasebno, knjigo toplo priporočam.