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The joy of [pi]
Cover worn. Shipped from the U.K. All orders received before 3pm sent that weekday.
129 pages, Paperback
First published September 2, 1997
13 people are currently reading
590 people want to read
About the author
David Blatner
62 books11 followersDavid Blatner is the author of 15 books, translated into 14 languages with over a half-million copies in print, including Spectrums, The Joy of Pi, and The Flying Book. As an expert on digital publishing, he has lectured in five continents over the past two decades. He and his wife and two sons live, explore, and write outside Seattle, Washington.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
June 30, 2024
‘It seems like such a simple problem: draw a square that covers the same area as a circle using nothing but a straightedge and a compass.’
In this book, David Blatner explores the history of Pi: who has tried to calculate it, and how. This book includes early estimates of the value of pi and the modern quest to find more digits of pi by using computers. The book even includes the first one million digits of pi.
Way back in the last century, I became acquainted with pi. After I left school, I never really needed to think about the value of it beyond the first few decimal places. I can understand the quest to find a pattern and the desire to stress test computers by calculating pi to 51.5 billion places (that was back in 1997). I can learn, and the world has certainly benefitted, from the obsessions of others.
This quirky little book is full of facts about pi, and also provides other sources for those who want to know more. For me this was an interesting and fun read. I think it would be fascinating to many young people learning about the enigma of pi.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
In this book, David Blatner explores the history of Pi: who has tried to calculate it, and how. This book includes early estimates of the value of pi and the modern quest to find more digits of pi by using computers. The book even includes the first one million digits of pi.
Way back in the last century, I became acquainted with pi. After I left school, I never really needed to think about the value of it beyond the first few decimal places. I can understand the quest to find a pattern and the desire to stress test computers by calculating pi to 51.5 billion places (that was back in 1997). I can learn, and the world has certainly benefitted, from the obsessions of others.
This quirky little book is full of facts about pi, and also provides other sources for those who want to know more. For me this was an interesting and fun read. I think it would be fascinating to many young people learning about the enigma of pi.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
December 18, 2017
This is a book all about history, facts, and basically all you need to know about the number that has sparked people minds the most in history- pi. I enjoyed this because there is a lot of interesting and random facts about pi. There is also a lot of math language that helps you learn some calculations for getting more digits of it. There are also many times where David Blatner adds tips and opinions from others who have tried to calculate pi and have seceded amazingly. I definitely recommend this book to others who like to learn about math and the history of it. Hopefully someday this book appears on your bookshelf to read.
January 7, 2021
An interesting story about an irrational number, and the unnecessary and crazy extents people will go to to find yet another decimal point that has no bearing on everyday mathematics, or even mathematics research at a PhD level. I suppose what I like best, but already knew, was that a perfect circle cannot be defined in finite terms; or, in other words, perfection can never be attained.
October 29, 2015
This was a very enjoyable book, dealing mostly with the history of pi. Amazingly it also included pi to the 1,000,000th place, in very, very small print, naturally. One of the most interesting sections is about deluded people who try to square the circle, or calculate the "true value" of pi. There's even some advice on how to memorize pi to as many places as you want, mostly by making up a story where the number of letters in each word are the digits.
January 30, 2022
Loved this book when it first came out and love it still. I was teaching mathematics and looking for extension ideas for my enthusiastic students. I have just revisited the book and love it even more.
As a memory experiment, I have memorised the first 1000 digits, so Pi is really embedded in my life. The Joy of Pi is fun and a great book about the most intriguing number of all.
As a memory experiment, I have memorised the first 1000 digits, so Pi is really embedded in my life. The Joy of Pi is fun and a great book about the most intriguing number of all.
July 14, 2019
Fascinating and fun to read
Okay, what do you get when you measure the circumference of a jack o lantern?
Pumpkin pi(e).
This is just one of the many little pleasantries that David Blatner has for readers in this most attractive little gem of an exploration of 3.1459…. There’s also some pi poetry, some of which is not half bad. There are pi mnemonic devices, words strung out in prose or rhyme with the length of the individual letters to remind one of the string of pi digits. For example, “How I wish I could calculate pi.” Or, “Sir, I bear a rhyme excelling/In mystic force and magic spelling….” In the same chapter, “Memorizing Pi” Blatner recalls some of the great mnemonic exploits of pi-dom, culminating in the incredible feat of one “Hiroyki Goto, who in February 1995 spent just over nine hours reciting 42,00 digits of pi from memory.” (p. 111)
One of the questions I always had about pi was, Are the digits random? The number is irrational and transcendent so apparently the numbers never repeat. To me that always sounded like something close to a definition of a random sequence. Here I learned that in the first million digits, there are 99,959 zeros, 99,758, ones, 100,026 twos, 100,229 threes, 100,230 fours, 100,359 fives, 99,548 sixes, 99,800 sevens, 99,985 eights, and 100,106 nines. I would consider that distribution indistinguishable from random. Incidentally the first one million digits are printed in the book, albeit in such small type that you’ll need a magnifying glass to make out the numbers.
But could the seeming randomness of the digits change as more and more places are calculated? Apparently not since “now, at over 51 billion digits on record, it appears that there’s no statistically relevant difference…” between any of the numbers. (p. 73)
Blatner has a chapter on “The Circle Squarers.” These guys are still hard at work trying to square the circle, something I have been told that not even God can do. Some of the tries are very amusing. People who work at trying to square the circle may be compared with those who work on building a perpetual motion machine.
Also interesting is how the present value of pi was arrived at over the centuries and the various ways people tried to get it as exact as possible. In the chapter on “The History of Pi,” Blatner recalls the “earliest known record of the ratio” which “was written by an Egyptian scribe named Ahmes around 1650 BCE.” He reckoned that pi equaled 256/81 or 3.16049. Blatner reports that the Romans used three and an eighth as close enough even though they knew three and a seventh was more accurate, simply because three and an eighth was easier to work with. (p. 20)
The book is filled with art work sometimes superimposed over the relentless march of the digits of pi in something like one-point type. There are many sidebars with interesting tidbits about pi and quotes from famous mathematicians. The book is fun to read and would make a nice little gift for the budding mathematician in your family or CIRCLE of friends.
--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”
Okay, what do you get when you measure the circumference of a jack o lantern?
Pumpkin pi(e).
This is just one of the many little pleasantries that David Blatner has for readers in this most attractive little gem of an exploration of 3.1459…. There’s also some pi poetry, some of which is not half bad. There are pi mnemonic devices, words strung out in prose or rhyme with the length of the individual letters to remind one of the string of pi digits. For example, “How I wish I could calculate pi.” Or, “Sir, I bear a rhyme excelling/In mystic force and magic spelling….” In the same chapter, “Memorizing Pi” Blatner recalls some of the great mnemonic exploits of pi-dom, culminating in the incredible feat of one “Hiroyki Goto, who in February 1995 spent just over nine hours reciting 42,00 digits of pi from memory.” (p. 111)
One of the questions I always had about pi was, Are the digits random? The number is irrational and transcendent so apparently the numbers never repeat. To me that always sounded like something close to a definition of a random sequence. Here I learned that in the first million digits, there are 99,959 zeros, 99,758, ones, 100,026 twos, 100,229 threes, 100,230 fours, 100,359 fives, 99,548 sixes, 99,800 sevens, 99,985 eights, and 100,106 nines. I would consider that distribution indistinguishable from random. Incidentally the first one million digits are printed in the book, albeit in such small type that you’ll need a magnifying glass to make out the numbers.
But could the seeming randomness of the digits change as more and more places are calculated? Apparently not since “now, at over 51 billion digits on record, it appears that there’s no statistically relevant difference…” between any of the numbers. (p. 73)
Blatner has a chapter on “The Circle Squarers.” These guys are still hard at work trying to square the circle, something I have been told that not even God can do. Some of the tries are very amusing. People who work at trying to square the circle may be compared with those who work on building a perpetual motion machine.
Also interesting is how the present value of pi was arrived at over the centuries and the various ways people tried to get it as exact as possible. In the chapter on “The History of Pi,” Blatner recalls the “earliest known record of the ratio” which “was written by an Egyptian scribe named Ahmes around 1650 BCE.” He reckoned that pi equaled 256/81 or 3.16049. Blatner reports that the Romans used three and an eighth as close enough even though they knew three and a seventh was more accurate, simply because three and an eighth was easier to work with. (p. 20)
The book is filled with art work sometimes superimposed over the relentless march of the digits of pi in something like one-point type. There are many sidebars with interesting tidbits about pi and quotes from famous mathematicians. The book is fun to read and would make a nice little gift for the budding mathematician in your family or CIRCLE of friends.
--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”
March 26, 2025
As I am on the threshold of going to the University of Cambridge at long last in reality, this book made me reconsider - do I really want to vacate this University's magnificent Mathematics Department just since I have a couple of miscellaneous problems with my eyes? Some challenges which have grown so severe since high school that they had made me have to visit the hospital on 3-to-9 month intervals? Truthfully, some difficulties which have nearly killed me, so I don't want to expose my face for my profile photo on Goodreads? (The other head to the right is a willing bus buddy.)
I understand the NHS might have some funding problems but I might be able to prove there are three and a little bit of an animal. I know I've got two cats, what was the one that was two... e? That one's 2.72... well, before the two, I had a third, whose coat was the same colour as the book. Oh, and if it's 3.14, there ought to be the vague memory of a fourth... Let me think... there were others... I once had partial ownership of a black cat named Belle...
Although, it is true, Pi IS 3.1415, though, and that is the subject of this book. No cats at all involved. (I have been informed as the semesters passed the smaller the place value got the less significant the figure is.)
But, what could be more significant than Pi?
I hadn't heard of FORTRAN for a few semesters. I am glad it wasn't just a fever dream, as I have had a few worrisomely high fevers after I learned what exactly Pi was. According to Wiki, it has been "Fortran 2023" for a while now. There are a few more interesting nuggets of info here... Maybe you can pick them out. I thought well of The Joy of Pi.
I understand the NHS might have some funding problems but I might be able to prove there are three and a little bit of an animal. I know I've got two cats, what was the one that was two... e? That one's 2.72... well, before the two, I had a third, whose coat was the same colour as the book. Oh, and if it's 3.14, there ought to be the vague memory of a fourth... Let me think... there were others... I once had partial ownership of a black cat named Belle...
Although, it is true, Pi IS 3.1415, though, and that is the subject of this book. No cats at all involved. (I have been informed as the semesters passed the smaller the place value got the less significant the figure is.)
But, what could be more significant than Pi?
I hadn't heard of FORTRAN for a few semesters. I am glad it wasn't just a fever dream, as I have had a few worrisomely high fevers after I learned what exactly Pi was. According to Wiki, it has been "Fortran 2023" for a while now. There are a few more interesting nuggets of info here... Maybe you can pick them out. I thought well of The Joy of Pi.
August 26, 2025
There's nothing joyful about this book. It's the least accessible book I've ever read. It was dry, the pictures were often behind the text making it hard to read the words or see the picture. One of the most egregious examples of this were the grey diagrams behind the black text. There's also multiple pages where mathematical equations overlap the text or other mathematical equations. There's a bunch of asides and footnotes that wound up inside various green circles or squares with no real indication of which to read first. This is even more confusing because the green shapes with text came in multiple shades of green, different sized text and could be found on the sides or in the middle of the regular text. I can't recommend this to anyone because the book is boring and the way it's formatted makes it nearly impossible to read with ease. For a short book this was agonizing to get through.
TL:DR The formatting makes this book illegible so frequently I wondered if my glasses prescription had expired. It's also incredibly boring and abuses footnotes.
TL:DR The formatting makes this book illegible so frequently I wondered if my glasses prescription had expired. It's also incredibly boring and abuses footnotes.
September 11, 2025
A journey through the history of the number π. The fascination it has exerted — and continues to exert — on mathematicians and beyond, together with its unique nature (its digits unfold endlessly, without any apparent plan or pattern), is subtly linked to the mystery of the universe itself. The Joy of π presents this subject in a clever and imaginative way, weaving stories, anecdotes, and cultural references around the mathematics. While I would have preferred more rigorous mathematical depth and a little less digression, the book succeeds in showing why π has captured human curiosity for centuries and remains one of the most iconic constants in all of science.
Ενα ταξίδι στην ιστορία του αριθμού π. Η γοητεία που άσκησε και εξακολουθεί να ασκεί σε μαθηματικούς και όχι μόνο, η ιδιαιτερότητά του (οι αριθμοί διαδέχονται ο ένας τον άλλο αενάως και χωρίς κάποιο σχέδιο ή μοτίβο) συνδέεται έμμεσα με την έννοια του μυστηρίου του σύμπαντος ... Το βιβλίο παρουσιάζει το ζητημα με έξυπνο και ευφάνταστο τρόπο, αν και θα προτιμούσ περισσότερα μαθηματικά και λιγότερη φλυαρία
December 19, 2017
Less a primer on the mathematical constant, the book focuses mainly on the history of and facts about the enigmatic pi - from the quirkiest to the downright fascinating of anecdotes and tidbits, which stretches all the way back to Dynastic Egypt to our modern times of record-breaking number crunchers and memorizers.
It is a delightful read, and I dare say it would intrigue even those who consider themselves uninterested in anything relating to math. The book is also very readable. While terms like "circumference," "radius," and "diameter" appear throughout, it's not necessary to be a wizard at geometry or trigonometry to enjoy this incredibly short read.
There is one somewhat irksome aspect about this book, though. In some places, background designs interfere with text, making it difficult to decipher words. But, it doesn't distract too much from the experience.
It is a delightful read, and I dare say it would intrigue even those who consider themselves uninterested in anything relating to math. The book is also very readable. While terms like "circumference," "radius," and "diameter" appear throughout, it's not necessary to be a wizard at geometry or trigonometry to enjoy this incredibly short read.
There is one somewhat irksome aspect about this book, though. In some places, background designs interfere with text, making it difficult to decipher words. But, it doesn't distract too much from the experience.
December 23, 2018
This was an interesting little book that goes into a lot of detail of the whole history of pi. From how they originally calculated the area of circles, how each mathematician expanded on more accurate methods, until super computers could do millions of mathematical calculations a second.
The book also went how the symbol of pi came to represent what it does, the "circle squarer" competition, and had lots of jokes, poems, trivia and more relating to pi. One of the most interesting parts to me were the various ways people have come up with to memorize pi up to 45000+ digits!
This book was very mathy and technical in some parts. But, interesting nonetheless.
The book also went how the symbol of pi came to represent what it does, the "circle squarer" competition, and had lots of jokes, poems, trivia and more relating to pi. One of the most interesting parts to me were the various ways people have come up with to memorize pi up to 45000+ digits!
This book was very mathy and technical in some parts. But, interesting nonetheless.
November 13, 2024
This book is pretty good for what it tries to do. It is basically a history of how pi has been computed over the years. It ranges from a value of 3 in the Bible to millions of digits calculated on modern computers. The text is interspersed with quotes about pi. I would like a book with more depth about the uses of pi and the weird places across many disciplines where it pops up. I will have to get another book for that. This book was a pleasant read and short so it essentially whetted my appetite for more depth about pi. to the authors credit, he recommends several books with more details about this fascinating number.
January 12, 2018
This was a funny book. Granted, there are a lot of historical stuff you need to get through. The good thing is that they’re not so much and it’s written in a way that makes it easier to get through the historical blubber. There are small facts about Pi that I didn’t know yet. Now I can ramble on against everybody about the strange link between Pi and the number 360.
Read the full review at my blog.
Read the full review at my blog.
November 2, 2020
When my library finally opened after 6 months closed, I went in ASAP to browse the stacks and found this cute little book about Pi. The history of Pi put me to sleep for a good many nights in a row. Parts of it were a little boring but that's not to say I didn't like it. It is a book about Pi after all. I didn't expect a riveting read. I also didn't expect a humorous read but that's what it was in spots. I enjoyed Pi on the side sections. I also really liked the section on the Chudnovsky Brothers of whom I knew nothing about.
April 7, 2025
It was pleasant for this math enthusiast to read this. There is a lot of history from antiquity to the modern era of approximations for this important ratio. Also a lot of memorization feats and general mnemonics topics. Also, milestones in calculating numbers of digits, both before and during the computer age.
One thing that I liked reading of was the history of the Indiana pi bill. The story was more colorful than I had learned, and I was glad to learn it was not enacted.
One thing that I liked reading of was the history of the Indiana pi bill. The story was more colorful than I had learned, and I was glad to learn it was not enacted.
April 12, 2018
2.5
Lo leí para ganar un punto en mi clase de Matemáticas. 😂🤷🏽♀️
Aunque eso si, estuvo lleno de cosas interesantes, como el récord de cifras de π de personas que se lo han memorizado y también te ponían cosas de películas y series que han mencionado π para hacer más ameno el libro, lo cual se aprecia 💙
Lo leí para ganar un punto en mi clase de Matemáticas. 😂🤷🏽♀️
Aunque eso si, estuvo lleno de cosas interesantes, como el récord de cifras de π de personas que se lo han memorizado y también te ponían cosas de películas y series que han mencionado π para hacer más ameno el libro, lo cual se aprecia 💙
August 7, 2022
For a science (non-mathematics) major like myself, I knew enough about math for most of the book to be understandable (although, vaguely at times).
I appreciated the splashes of humor throughout and the writer turner pi into a much more interesting topic than just 3.14, National Pi Day (Free slice of pie at Grand Traverse Pie Co), or a math equation.
I appreciated the splashes of humor throughout and the writer turner pi into a much more interesting topic than just 3.14, National Pi Day (Free slice of pie at Grand Traverse Pie Co), or a math equation.
January 8, 2022
I understood the point, that people will go to incredible, ridiculous lengths to find pi's infinite decimal points, after the first 30 or so pages of it being repeated. The writing wasn't bad, but it seemed as though I was just having a point repeated to me over and over.
May 8, 2017
Very easy access and makes you interested in looking at things further - though I found the section about squaring the circle a bit too long...
August 29, 2017
A great little book on an intriguing number.
March 30, 2018
Short, little look at Pi. For laypeople yet has a lot to it.
May 20, 2018
Fun little math-nerd book on the history of pi, as well as fun-facts.
February 15, 2019
"quantitas,in quam cum multiplicetur diameter, proveniet circumferentia" hakkında genel kültürünüzü tazeleyecek bilgiler barındıran bir kitap.
(her satırda 184 rakam var)
(her satırda 184 rakam var)
April 4, 2021
Probably no number has evoked such mystery and misconception as pi.
March 15, 2022
This was a quick fun read for pi day.
October 27, 2024
A good and short read! This book goes fully into the history and applications of the mysterious number Pi. It goes very deep into the specific people behind the massive number and even focuses on the false theories behind it as well.
February 9, 2013
I first read The Joy of Pi on Pi Day--not Pi Approximation Day, i.e. 22/7, on the 14th of March, 2011, and I'm glad. While I didn't take the sciences route after high school, I did heartily enjoy my mathematics and geometry classes, and there's something wonderful about π, the irrational number (3.14159...) that manages the ratio of any Euclidean plane circle's circumference to its diameter, is a number of note. It's certainly the irrational number that I, and other non-mathematicians, have the greatest acquaintance with--e isn't obviously relevant, but the size of a circle certainly is! Why is π that irrational number? What is its history? What is its meaning?
David Blatner's 1999 The Joy of Pi (official site here) explains all this. Very readable, in the almost jocular tone of the 1990s popular science subgenre that I'd not realized I'd missed until I read Blatner's clear prose, The Joy of Pi does a very nice job of this, explaining how the need of architects in the ancient Middle East and China to build durable buildings and of land surveyors or allocate land led first to approximations of the value of π, then to the first calculations of the number, then to the ever-continuing, never-ending, refinements of the value of this number. π, it seems, has become iconic, the numbers of digits of π calculated--in the billions at Blatner's writing--being irrelevant for any real-world application. π is an irrational number of transcendant importance, worthy of effort by mathematicians as famously competent as the Chudnovsky brothers or as wacked-out as any number of cranks who believe that their value of π reveals the true nature of the universe. Indeed, The Joy of Pi ends with Carl Sagan's Contact and the meaning--it turns out--our universe's creators embedded in that number. All of this, mind, with text quite literally wrapped by the first million digits of pi wrapping from front to back cover.
A slim read, The Joy of Pi is a great read. Do read it; even non-math fans will get caught up by the human side. Who doesn't want to find out why the universe works the mysterious ways it does?
David Blatner's 1999 The Joy of Pi (official site here) explains all this. Very readable, in the almost jocular tone of the 1990s popular science subgenre that I'd not realized I'd missed until I read Blatner's clear prose, The Joy of Pi does a very nice job of this, explaining how the need of architects in the ancient Middle East and China to build durable buildings and of land surveyors or allocate land led first to approximations of the value of π, then to the first calculations of the number, then to the ever-continuing, never-ending, refinements of the value of this number. π, it seems, has become iconic, the numbers of digits of π calculated--in the billions at Blatner's writing--being irrelevant for any real-world application. π is an irrational number of transcendant importance, worthy of effort by mathematicians as famously competent as the Chudnovsky brothers or as wacked-out as any number of cranks who believe that their value of π reveals the true nature of the universe. Indeed, The Joy of Pi ends with Carl Sagan's Contact and the meaning--it turns out--our universe's creators embedded in that number. All of this, mind, with text quite literally wrapped by the first million digits of pi wrapping from front to back cover.
A slim read, The Joy of Pi is a great read. Do read it; even non-math fans will get caught up by the human side. Who doesn't want to find out why the universe works the mysterious ways it does?
March 20, 2025
For anyone interested in the subject I'd recommend it. It's not an exhilarating read, but a cozy one. It's a light read, the book is using a cool and refreshing layout. Sometimes the simple fact/name mentioning goes a little too far, but ultimately I found the mix of history, exploration of properties and quirky little stories/quotes a fun read. The first half of the book is dedicated to the history of Pi, and how subsequently more digits of precision was added throughout time until finally with the advent of calculus around the 17th century we began seeing Pi expressed in infinite sums. However the question remained; could the area of the circle be squared with only compass/straightedge and using a finite number of steps?
I more enjoyed the latter half of the book, where things really got going with the blossoming of mathematics, invention (or discovery?) of calculus and finally the invention of the electronic computer.
What stands out to me as I think back on the contents? I was fascinated by how Pi was first proved irrational, then finally transcendental (which I didn't even know what meant until recently, albeit from the Youtube channel Numberphile). Also I didn't know that mathematics had their own group of people analogous to alchemists of chemistry and perpetial-machine-inventors of physics, namely "circle squarers" of mathematics - that was quite entertaining :D
Being a physics student, I already knew about the multitue of ways that in which Pi appears, not just as the dimensional ratio of the circle, but also in the solutions to question and probability, statistics and of course in how we interpret natural phenomenon in physics. This little book did provide me with enough interesting historical information, quirky stories and some facts, that I consider it worthwhile.
I more enjoyed the latter half of the book, where things really got going with the blossoming of mathematics, invention (or discovery?) of calculus and finally the invention of the electronic computer.
What stands out to me as I think back on the contents? I was fascinated by how Pi was first proved irrational, then finally transcendental (which I didn't even know what meant until recently, albeit from the Youtube channel Numberphile). Also I didn't know that mathematics had their own group of people analogous to alchemists of chemistry and perpetial-machine-inventors of physics, namely "circle squarers" of mathematics - that was quite entertaining :D
Being a physics student, I already knew about the multitue of ways that in which Pi appears, not just as the dimensional ratio of the circle, but also in the solutions to question and probability, statistics and of course in how we interpret natural phenomenon in physics. This little book did provide me with enough interesting historical information, quirky stories and some facts, that I consider it worthwhile.
June 15, 2021
Tantissime cose su pi greco!
David Blatner è fondamentalmente un grafico, e autore di vari libri su Photoshop e InDesign. Ma è anche riuscito a essere coautore di un libro intitolato Judaism for Dummies e questo libretto sul pi greco che è davvero particolare, a cominciare dalla grafica (immagino i moccoloni tirati dalla Nexus snc che ha dovuto mantenerla nella versione italiana...) Si trovano più o meno ovunque cifre scritte in corpo 4 che immagino siano quelle dello sviluppo decimale di π: le cifre sono un milione, e la milionesima per la cronaca è un 1. Oltre ad esse, ci sono tutte le notizie storiche e culturali sul numero che ci si può immaginare. La lettura è davvero godibile, anche per l'ineccepibile traduzione di Libero Sosio. Purtroppo il libro non è più in commercio da anni - io ho letto una copia presa in prestito in biblioteca, prima di comprarmi una copia usata della versione inglese - e non avrebbe nemmeno senso una versione in epub, vista la struttura del libro.
David Blatner è fondamentalmente un grafico, e autore di vari libri su Photoshop e InDesign. Ma è anche riuscito a essere coautore di un libro intitolato Judaism for Dummies e questo libretto sul pi greco che è davvero particolare, a cominciare dalla grafica (immagino i moccoloni tirati dalla Nexus snc che ha dovuto mantenerla nella versione italiana...) Si trovano più o meno ovunque cifre scritte in corpo 4 che immagino siano quelle dello sviluppo decimale di π: le cifre sono un milione, e la milionesima per la cronaca è un 1. Oltre ad esse, ci sono tutte le notizie storiche e culturali sul numero che ci si può immaginare. La lettura è davvero godibile, anche per l'ineccepibile traduzione di Libero Sosio. Purtroppo il libro non è più in commercio da anni - io ho letto una copia presa in prestito in biblioteca, prima di comprarmi una copia usata della versione inglese - e non avrebbe nemmeno senso una versione in epub, vista la struttura del libro.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews