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Inside Mathematics
Numbers: How Counting Changed the World
Think math is boring? Think again! How Counting Changed the World cracks open the history of numbers to explore the surprising, fascinating, and sometimes mind-boggling evolution of mathematics through the ages.
Did you know that the division symbol is actually a dagger? Or that something as simple as 1, 2, 3, nearly ended up breaking math for good? What is an imaginary number exactly? Numbers may seem simple on the surface but they will defy your imagination. Written to engage, entertain and enthuse readers young and old, How Counting Changed the World takes an entirely new approach to the wonderful world of mathematics. Along the way, readers will meet the early geniuses who figured out what numbers are and what we could do with them. Theyll learn how numbers influence almost everything around us from the invention of the first computer, to the way we count and experience time itself. And theyll encounter strange and quirky stories about some of maths biggest names. From John Napier, the inventor of algorithms, who never went anywhere without his pet rooster, to Pythagoras, who just might have been a murderer, How Counting Changed the World shows that there is much more to numbers than 1, 2, 3.
Did you know that the division symbol is actually a dagger? Or that something as simple as 1, 2, 3, nearly ended up breaking math for good? What is an imaginary number exactly? Numbers may seem simple on the surface but they will defy your imagination. Written to engage, entertain and enthuse readers young and old, How Counting Changed the World takes an entirely new approach to the wonderful world of mathematics. Along the way, readers will meet the early geniuses who figured out what numbers are and what we could do with them. Theyll learn how numbers influence almost everything around us from the invention of the first computer, to the way we count and experience time itself. And theyll encounter strange and quirky stories about some of maths biggest names. From John Napier, the inventor of algorithms, who never went anywhere without his pet rooster, to Pythagoras, who just might have been a murderer, How Counting Changed the World shows that there is much more to numbers than 1, 2, 3.
- GenresMathematics
184 pages, Paperback
Published May 1, 2017
1 person is currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
Tom Jackson
650 books58 followers"I'm a non-fiction author and project editor (plus I do a bit of journalism). I'm available for project development, writing, project management and I also work as a packager. Click on the links above to see examples of my work.
But first some background: Over the last 20 years, I've written books, magazine and newspaper articles, for online and for television. I get to write about a wide range of subjects, everything from axolotls to zoroastrianism. However, my specialties are natural history, technology and all things scientific. I've worked on projects with Brian May, Patrick Moore, Marcus de Sautoy and Carol Vorderman and for major international publishers, such as Dorling Kindersley, National Geographic, Scholastic, Hachette, Facts on File and BBC Magazines.
I spend my days finding fun ways of communicating all kinds of facts, new and old, to every age group and reading ability. I live in Bristol, England, with my wife and three children. I studied zoology at Bristol University and have had spells working at the zoos in Jersey and Surrey. I used to be something of a conservationist, which included planting trees in Somerset, surveying Vietnamese jungle and rescuing buffaloes from drought-ridden Zimbabwe. Writing jobs have also taken me to the Galápagos Islands, the Amazon rainforest, the coral reefs of Indonesia and the Sahara Desert. Nowadays, I can be found mainly in the attic."
~http://tomjackson.weebly.com/
But first some background: Over the last 20 years, I've written books, magazine and newspaper articles, for online and for television. I get to write about a wide range of subjects, everything from axolotls to zoroastrianism. However, my specialties are natural history, technology and all things scientific. I've worked on projects with Brian May, Patrick Moore, Marcus de Sautoy and Carol Vorderman and for major international publishers, such as Dorling Kindersley, National Geographic, Scholastic, Hachette, Facts on File and BBC Magazines.
I spend my days finding fun ways of communicating all kinds of facts, new and old, to every age group and reading ability. I live in Bristol, England, with my wife and three children. I studied zoology at Bristol University and have had spells working at the zoos in Jersey and Surrey. I used to be something of a conservationist, which included planting trees in Somerset, surveying Vietnamese jungle and rescuing buffaloes from drought-ridden Zimbabwe. Writing jobs have also taken me to the Galápagos Islands, the Amazon rainforest, the coral reefs of Indonesia and the Sahara Desert. Nowadays, I can be found mainly in the attic."
~http://tomjackson.weebly.com/
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 26, 2017
I picked this book up from the library as it seemed interesting. And while I did learn interesting tidbits about mathematics and numbers (which is what I was expecting), I'm giving this book 2 stars instead of 3 stars because the author really isn't very good at explaining difficult concepts.
If this book was meant to be a fun, easy introduction to mathematical concepts (as the cover, synopsis, an brightly colored images suggest), then the author did a very poor job and making a layperson understand the concepts presented in the book. I'm not an idiot, and I am well educated (I have a science degree, not that it matters), yet I could not understand many of the concepts the author wrote about. If you're interested in mathematical concepts and numbers, skip this book and read Wikipedia instead.
If this book was meant to be a fun, easy introduction to mathematical concepts (as the cover, synopsis, an brightly colored images suggest), then the author did a very poor job and making a layperson understand the concepts presented in the book. I'm not an idiot, and I am well educated (I have a science degree, not that it matters), yet I could not understand many of the concepts the author wrote about. If you're interested in mathematical concepts and numbers, skip this book and read Wikipedia instead.
March 16, 2019
This is a great introduction to all those sticky concepts in math. The book belongs on every coffee table. Want to know about Pi? It's in the book. How about Phi? Ditto. Nothing is too complicated that an eighth grader couldn't understand.
May 16, 2022
Very good book and introduction into Math and Math History.
January 7, 2024
It's an interesting and highly accessible book, but it seems to be more suitable for middle school and high school students. Still I enjoyed it, especially the history.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews