Weirdest Maths: At the Frontiers of Reason

by David Darling, Agnijo Banerjee

Maths is everywhere, in everything. It’s in the finest margins of modern sport. It’s in the electrical pulses of our hearts and the flight of every bird. It is our key to secret messages, lost languages and perhaps even the shape of the universe of itself.

David Darling and Agnijo Banerjee reveal the mathematics at the farthest reaches of our world – from its role in the plots of novels to how animals employ numerical skills to survive. Along the way they explore what makes a genius, why a seemingly simple problem can confound the best and brightest for decades, and what might be the great discovery of the twenty-first century. As Bertrand Russell once said, ‘mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty’. Banerjee and Darling make sure we see it right again.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mathematics

Kindle Edition

Published February 4, 2021

About the author

There is more than one author in the database with this name. Not all books on this profile may belong to the same person.

David Darling is a science writer and astronomer. He is the author of many books, including the bestselling Equations of Eternity, and the popular online resource The Worlds of David Darling. He lives in Dundee, Scotland.

Reviews

[Aaliyah Dixon-Ashun · Rating 3 out of 5]

wasn't weird. liked it though

[Aditya · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half of the book wasn't that interesting and had a lot of overlap with other maths/physics/astrophysics pop science books. The third quarter was definitely the best part of the book. "Is everything mathematics" was surprisingly... humble. Nice read overall, 3.5 stars.

[Anna Kaling · Rating 1 out of 5]

The maths wasn't weird. You had one job.