What do you think?
Rate this book
Alex et la magie des nombres
From triangles, rotations and power laws, to fractals, cones and curves, bestselling author Alex Bellos takes you on a journey of mathematical discovery with his signature wit, engaging stories and limitless enthusiasm. As he narrates a series of eye-opening encounters with lively personalities all over the world, Alex demonstrates how numbers have come to be our friends, are fascinating and extremely accessible, and how they have changed our world.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
77 people are currently reading
793 people want to read
About the author
Alex Bellos
68 books379 followers"I was born in Oxford and grew up in Edinburgh and Southampton. After studying mathematics and philosophy at university I joined the Evening Argus in Brighton as a trainee reporter. I joined the Guardian in 1994 as a reporter and in 1998 moved to Rio de Janeiro, where I spent five years as the paper’s South America correspondent. Since 2003 I have lived in London, as a freelance writer and broadcaster.
[...]
In 2003 I presented a five-part series on Brazil for the BBC, called Inside Out Brazil. My short films about the Amazon have been broadcast on the BBC, More 4 and Al Jazeera International."
[...]
In 2003 I presented a five-part series on Brazil for the BBC, called Inside Out Brazil. My short films about the Amazon have been broadcast on the BBC, More 4 and Al Jazeera International."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
March 24, 2017
What a freakingly amazing book! I think the best way to describe it, is its sub-title: how life reflects numbers and numbers reflect life. This is what Alex Bellos tells us through many stories ranging from ancient Sumeria to today's computer geek centres. I learned so much with this book, and at the same time it was such fun. I will be getting back to it often. My last read of the year was surely one of my best reads of the year!
January 3, 2016
You mention maths to people and they either think Mental Abuse To Humans or run screaming from the room. But we are surrounded by numbers, they are in the things that we read, play a key role in everything we do online and the wonders of a simple cone.
In this book Bellos draws out the stories behind the numbers. We learn how simple triangulation allows us to move around the country with maps and sat nav. How exponential growth is the key number behind You Tube sensations and Catalan architecture. We meet those playing the game of life are beginning to understand the deepest complexities of life from a simple computer programme and how a simple mathematical law can catch the financial crook, and we discover just what peoples favourite number are.
It is a reasonably accessible book too, even for those that normal turn a paler shade when the word maths is mentioned. He does drift of into the delights of calculus in one chapter, but all of the others are well explained, understandable, and may even make you smile every now and again.
In this book Bellos draws out the stories behind the numbers. We learn how simple triangulation allows us to move around the country with maps and sat nav. How exponential growth is the key number behind You Tube sensations and Catalan architecture. We meet those playing the game of life are beginning to understand the deepest complexities of life from a simple computer programme and how a simple mathematical law can catch the financial crook, and we discover just what peoples favourite number are.
It is a reasonably accessible book too, even for those that normal turn a paler shade when the word maths is mentioned. He does drift of into the delights of calculus in one chapter, but all of the others are well explained, understandable, and may even make you smile every now and again.
March 5, 2023
This is such an interesting and fun book! And not at all difficult to understand. Each chapter can be read as a standalone, so if you aren't interested in that particular topic or you don't "get it", you can skip to the next chapter. There is a combination of historical factoids, current uses for particular mathematical concepts and the strange properties some of these concepts and calculations have. Additional proofs are relegated to the appendices. Also included are many useful illustrations and diagrams, as well as, a section of photographs. The narrative style flows along smoothly without becoming bogged down in the theory.
Bellos starts off with the easy stuff - how people react to certain number and universal number laws and patters: things such as why we consider 7 to be lucky, why 11 is more interesting than 10, why certain numbers work better in advertising, Benford's Law, and the simple numerical patterns found in books (Zipf's Law).
Then there is the chapter on triangles, Ancient Greek geometry, trigonometry and the measurement of "things", such as the height of mountains, the circumference of the Earth and the triangulation of the Earth (aka cartography and GPS). Next up, is the cone and conic sections - the circle, ellipse, parabola and hyperbola. Here we learn about Kepler, Galileo, planetary orbits, and other properties and uses of various conic sections. A particularly fascinating chapter deals with "going around in circles" - pi (π), tau (τ), the cycloid, pendulums, Bernoulli, Leibniz and Newton, the invention of calculus, the movement of train wheels on tracks, harmonographs, tuning forks, and Fourier's theorem.
Exponential growth (bacteria and finances) and the exponential constant (e), along with the catenary curve (used in architecture) are covered, before moving onto imaginary numbers (i ) and complex numbers, which make your head loopy, and Euler's Identity, which has been proved (but no one knows what it means) and the very pretty repetitive patterns (fractals) devised by Mandelbrot, and the 3D Mandalbulb. Bellos provides a very nice introduction to calculus and developments in this area. This section also deals with the ideal curve (clothoid) for rail, roads and rollercoasters.
Bellows touches on set theory, and then moves on to the "Game of Life", in which a "mathematical grid can produce a pattern worthy of contemplation". This chapter I found particularly interesting. Patterns generated by a set of simple rules can life / natural selection. This type of maths and the concept of cellular automaton requires computers to do the extensive and long term calculations, and is used to model a variety of phenomena, such as the spread of algae on a lake, traffic flow and the growth of cities.
This book was entertaining, interesting and provided new (to me) information and things I had never thought of before. The addition of illustratory diagrams was particularly helpful in understanding some of the concepts.
Bellos starts off with the easy stuff - how people react to certain number and universal number laws and patters: things such as why we consider 7 to be lucky, why 11 is more interesting than 10, why certain numbers work better in advertising, Benford's Law, and the simple numerical patterns found in books (Zipf's Law).
Then there is the chapter on triangles, Ancient Greek geometry, trigonometry and the measurement of "things", such as the height of mountains, the circumference of the Earth and the triangulation of the Earth (aka cartography and GPS). Next up, is the cone and conic sections - the circle, ellipse, parabola and hyperbola. Here we learn about Kepler, Galileo, planetary orbits, and other properties and uses of various conic sections. A particularly fascinating chapter deals with "going around in circles" - pi (π), tau (τ), the cycloid, pendulums, Bernoulli, Leibniz and Newton, the invention of calculus, the movement of train wheels on tracks, harmonographs, tuning forks, and Fourier's theorem.
Exponential growth (bacteria and finances) and the exponential constant (e), along with the catenary curve (used in architecture) are covered, before moving onto imaginary numbers (i ) and complex numbers, which make your head loopy, and Euler's Identity, which has been proved (but no one knows what it means) and the very pretty repetitive patterns (fractals) devised by Mandelbrot, and the 3D Mandalbulb. Bellos provides a very nice introduction to calculus and developments in this area. This section also deals with the ideal curve (clothoid) for rail, roads and rollercoasters.
Bellows touches on set theory, and then moves on to the "Game of Life", in which a "mathematical grid can produce a pattern worthy of contemplation". This chapter I found particularly interesting. Patterns generated by a set of simple rules can life / natural selection. This type of maths and the concept of cellular automaton requires computers to do the extensive and long term calculations, and is used to model a variety of phenomena, such as the spread of algae on a lake, traffic flow and the growth of cities.
This book was entertaining, interesting and provided new (to me) information and things I had never thought of before. The addition of illustratory diagrams was particularly helpful in understanding some of the concepts.
August 13, 2016
I received this book for free through Goodreads: First reads.
I really enjoyed reading this book and, contrary to my fear that I might lose heart with it, I found myself more and more intrigued by each subsequent chapter. Bellos deals with maths in a wonderfully playful fashion. His attitude shines through in the chapter illustrations as well as some charmingly phrased analogies and segues into the next discussion.
"Speaking of long tails, Godzilla had one"
The text is written in a casual and friendly 1st person which guides you through the different topics. I found this a little strange at first, as I am used to formal scientific articles and textbooks, but I soon tempered to it. Also, this happily separated it from associations with hard work.
The book gives us glimpses of Maths' progression in history and introduces us to key players both historical and contemporary including interviews/quotes and pen pictures of the persons in question.
"Cédric Villani is no ordinary-looking university professor...He always wears a three-piece suit, starched white collar, lavaliere cravat - the kind folded extravagantly in a giant bow - and a sparkling, tarantula-sized spider brooch."
Effectively it is the exploration of Mathematics with the personality left in.
As someone already enthusiastic about Maths, I was pleased to discover new laws and the "Game of Life" as well as concepts with which I was already familiar presented in a new way. However, I did find something a little troubling in the tone of the introduction; a suggestion that I, the reader, would be reluctant to engage with this book and needed persuading.
A note on the book's physical appearance: I am disproportionally enraptured by the archer on the spine of the book shooting an arrow into a beautiful parabola, but I could not conclude without mentioning it. It is excellent. Though, Alex, how many times is it necessary to print your name and image on the dustcover? I know you must be proud, but it is a little much.
4.5 stars (though rounding up only seemed fair)
I really enjoyed reading this book and, contrary to my fear that I might lose heart with it, I found myself more and more intrigued by each subsequent chapter. Bellos deals with maths in a wonderfully playful fashion. His attitude shines through in the chapter illustrations as well as some charmingly phrased analogies and segues into the next discussion.
"Speaking of long tails, Godzilla had one"
The text is written in a casual and friendly 1st person which guides you through the different topics. I found this a little strange at first, as I am used to formal scientific articles and textbooks, but I soon tempered to it. Also, this happily separated it from associations with hard work.
The book gives us glimpses of Maths' progression in history and introduces us to key players both historical and contemporary including interviews/quotes and pen pictures of the persons in question.
"Cédric Villani is no ordinary-looking university professor...He always wears a three-piece suit, starched white collar, lavaliere cravat - the kind folded extravagantly in a giant bow - and a sparkling, tarantula-sized spider brooch."
Effectively it is the exploration of Mathematics with the personality left in.
As someone already enthusiastic about Maths, I was pleased to discover new laws and the "Game of Life" as well as concepts with which I was already familiar presented in a new way. However, I did find something a little troubling in the tone of the introduction; a suggestion that I, the reader, would be reluctant to engage with this book and needed persuading.
A note on the book's physical appearance: I am disproportionally enraptured by the archer on the spine of the book shooting an arrow into a beautiful parabola, but I could not conclude without mentioning it. It is excellent. Though, Alex, how many times is it necessary to print your name and image on the dustcover? I know you must be proud, but it is a little much.
4.5 stars (though rounding up only seemed fair)
March 28, 2015
My memory fails me most of the time when it comes to having read and comprehended science and maths. It is a curse but has a silver lining in that I get to reorient with the fascinating world of maths and the concepts and the theorems and the deep insights seems wonderful again and I am like "Wow" again.
Not that reading such stuff makes me any smarter, in fact it makes me feel like a dunce that I haven't comprehended this stuff in spite of being introduced to these. I envy those who have been able to tame these wild beasts and domesticated them for our application and contributed to the development of the modern Scientific world. But the joy in reading about mathematical gems and treasures is so rewarding that I almost weep with joy at some of the discoveries, some of the outcomes of some equations just hit you "boom", I swear I am left shocked and thunderstruck.
The book covers the usual suspects of the genre related to mathematics - pi, exponential constants, trigonometry , calculus, factorials - sounds intimidating but Bellos explains it well and connects the subjects. After 25 years finally figured out trig basics of sin cos tan better. Regret I didn't pay attention in school. Got to know the beauty of Mandelbrot set, catenaries that inspired Gaudi architecture (have to know more of him), the fascinating Game of Life. Great introductions.
Having read a few pop maths book, feel that such Pop book writing seems to have evolved. Writers seem to have developed in their translation of technical concepts and present it more palpably. This book is an example.
But alas I will have to come back to it cos I already seem to be forgetting some concepts. Maths will always be elusive to me but I will make that pilgrimage again.
Not that reading such stuff makes me any smarter, in fact it makes me feel like a dunce that I haven't comprehended this stuff in spite of being introduced to these. I envy those who have been able to tame these wild beasts and domesticated them for our application and contributed to the development of the modern Scientific world. But the joy in reading about mathematical gems and treasures is so rewarding that I almost weep with joy at some of the discoveries, some of the outcomes of some equations just hit you "boom", I swear I am left shocked and thunderstruck.
The book covers the usual suspects of the genre related to mathematics - pi, exponential constants, trigonometry , calculus, factorials - sounds intimidating but Bellos explains it well and connects the subjects. After 25 years finally figured out trig basics of sin cos tan better. Regret I didn't pay attention in school. Got to know the beauty of Mandelbrot set, catenaries that inspired Gaudi architecture (have to know more of him), the fascinating Game of Life. Great introductions.
Having read a few pop maths book, feel that such Pop book writing seems to have evolved. Writers seem to have developed in their translation of technical concepts and present it more palpably. This book is an example.
But alas I will have to come back to it cos I already seem to be forgetting some concepts. Maths will always be elusive to me but I will make that pilgrimage again.
October 9, 2015
One of the few "popular" maths books that turned out to be quite interesting.
Introduces such topics as:
- Benford's law, also called the First-Digit Law, is a law about the frequency distribution of leading digits in many (but not all) real-life sets of numerical data. That law states that in many naturally occurring collections of numbers the small digits occur disproportionately often as leading significant digits.
For example, in sets which obey the law the number 1 would appear as the most significant digit about 30% of the time, while larger digits would occur in that position less frequently: 9 would appear less than 5% of the time. If all digits were distributed uniformly, they would each occur about 11.1% of the time.
- Zipf's law states that given some corpus of natural language utterances, the frequency of any word is inversely proportional to its rank in the frequency table. Thus the most frequent word will occur approximately twice as often as the second most frequent word, three times as often as the third most frequent word, etc.
- Conic sections with interesting exposition on ellipsis, parabola and hyperbola.
- The catenary curve
- Complex numbers and fractals.
All those subjects were presented in very interesting manner. A good book, highly recommended
Introduces such topics as:
- Benford's law, also called the First-Digit Law, is a law about the frequency distribution of leading digits in many (but not all) real-life sets of numerical data. That law states that in many naturally occurring collections of numbers the small digits occur disproportionately often as leading significant digits.
For example, in sets which obey the law the number 1 would appear as the most significant digit about 30% of the time, while larger digits would occur in that position less frequently: 9 would appear less than 5% of the time. If all digits were distributed uniformly, they would each occur about 11.1% of the time.
- Zipf's law states that given some corpus of natural language utterances, the frequency of any word is inversely proportional to its rank in the frequency table. Thus the most frequent word will occur approximately twice as often as the second most frequent word, three times as often as the third most frequent word, etc.
- Conic sections with interesting exposition on ellipsis, parabola and hyperbola.
- The catenary curve
- Complex numbers and fractals.
All those subjects were presented in very interesting manner. A good book, highly recommended
April 19, 2014
I fortunately got this through goodreads.com and am pleased about that
I saw Alex Bellos on BBC Breakfast News being interviewed and was very impressed - I knew I had won a copy at that time, but was hoping the postman would bring it quickly. 2 days later I received my copy.
What a book!!!! I have some statistical/mathematics background, but the book will - should - be interesting and useful for all-comers, whether number minded or not - in fact, I believe it will be great to increase people's abilities with numbers.
I must recommend it fully to anyone, well written, well explained and certainly interesting. - 5 stars all the way
Now I will be hunting more of Alex's books out
I saw Alex Bellos on BBC Breakfast News being interviewed and was very impressed - I knew I had won a copy at that time, but was hoping the postman would bring it quickly. 2 days later I received my copy.
What a book!!!! I have some statistical/mathematics background, but the book will - should - be interesting and useful for all-comers, whether number minded or not - in fact, I believe it will be great to increase people's abilities with numbers.
I must recommend it fully to anyone, well written, well explained and certainly interesting. - 5 stars all the way
Now I will be hunting more of Alex's books out
May 4, 2020
This book explains how basic mathematical concepts were initially conceived and the ideas behind it all (think the ancient Greeks, Egyptians, Arabians as well as the esteemed mathematicians of the 1400-1800s). He also explains how these same concepts are used in everyday life, ranging from statistics, calculus and geometry (yes, the very fundamentals of Mathematics). Sprinkled throughout are also facts about some of these concepts that are inexplicably interesting, and how nature have always had these concepts ingrained in its very core.
Make no mistake: this book isn't written for seasoned mathematicians, but it is written with laypersons (or those who rote-learn maths in school, *like myself*) in mind.
If mathematics isn't your thing, I would still recommend this book if you're feeling curious to know all the things you learnt before (or didn't) at school but never really understood how it came to be and what uses they possess.
*spoiler* Some interesting facts:
~The Fourier Transform (frequency domain) is exhibited in the cochlea of the human ear.
~The catenary, when upside-down, is the most stable shape for a free-standing arch (and why this is so)
~The mathematical constants pi and exponent 'e' are intertwined in so many mathematical formulas and even in nature
~To measure the approximate height of a mountain, or the radius of the earth, all you need to measure is the distance between two points and the angle it makes at that point - basic geometry!
I enjoyed this book very much as it was like journeying through a mathematical text book with more fun, and ultimately more appreciation for the subject matter (i.e. doesn't read like a text book!)
Make no mistake: this book isn't written for seasoned mathematicians, but it is written with laypersons (or those who rote-learn maths in school, *like myself*) in mind.
If mathematics isn't your thing, I would still recommend this book if you're feeling curious to know all the things you learnt before (or didn't) at school but never really understood how it came to be and what uses they possess.
*spoiler* Some interesting facts:
~The Fourier Transform (frequency domain) is exhibited in the cochlea of the human ear.
~The catenary, when upside-down, is the most stable shape for a free-standing arch (and why this is so)
~The mathematical constants pi and exponent 'e' are intertwined in so many mathematical formulas and even in nature
~To measure the approximate height of a mountain, or the radius of the earth, all you need to measure is the distance between two points and the angle it makes at that point - basic geometry!
I enjoyed this book very much as it was like journeying through a mathematical text book with more fun, and ultimately more appreciation for the subject matter (i.e. doesn't read like a text book!)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 16, 2020
“Alex through the looking glass” (missing from Goodreads?!?!) is the prize novel from Bellos thus far, but the constant treasure throughout is the witty charm of Alex Bellos.
Bellos then weaves & intertwines that humour & crafts a narrative that almost steals the show.. But not quite - Numbers still, are King & there’s no shortage of truly remarkable numbers to become absorbed in.
No page is complete without a relaxed flow of eccentric & quirky undertone. Overall, humour & numbers may not be used for fun in today’s society, but Alex Bellos proves you sure can make some incredible links & tell some incredible tales by simply making each mathematical equation or data far more real & interesting by soaking and absorbing it into real life narrative.
Whether one is engaged in a passage about the mathematical code behind a park bench to breaking up mathematics & delving deep into the world of algorithmic breakdowns & trigonometric theory.
Bellos then weaves & intertwines that humour & crafts a narrative that almost steals the show.. But not quite - Numbers still, are King & there’s no shortage of truly remarkable numbers to become absorbed in.
No page is complete without a relaxed flow of eccentric & quirky undertone. Overall, humour & numbers may not be used for fun in today’s society, but Alex Bellos proves you sure can make some incredible links & tell some incredible tales by simply making each mathematical equation or data far more real & interesting by soaking and absorbing it into real life narrative.
Whether one is engaged in a passage about the mathematical code behind a park bench to breaking up mathematics & delving deep into the world of algorithmic breakdowns & trigonometric theory.
November 5, 2014
By chance, I saw this book in the bookstore several months ago. The title seemed appealing, then I bought it.
So fascinating. This book makes you fall in love with math deeper than before. Finished reading it, immediately I ordered other book from the same author. I like Alex Bellos' style of presenting.
For those who hate math, I believe you will start loving it after reading this book. :D
So fascinating. This book makes you fall in love with math deeper than before. Finished reading it, immediately I ordered other book from the same author. I like Alex Bellos' style of presenting.
For those who hate math, I believe you will start loving it after reading this book. :D
April 6, 2015
Interesting, but hard going at times. Contains some very complicated maths, which lost me many times. Still plenty of interesting facts and stories, but not as accessible as author’s previous book, Here's Looking at Euclid: A Surprising Excursion Through the Astonishing World of Math
October 26, 2014
Like "Alex's adventures in numberland" a mathematical all-sorts witch is fun to read. I would rate it five starts but some other books I've read made so much more impact on me that I give it only four.
September 24, 2014
Great book. Fascinating.
August 29, 2016
Great book with just the right depth for anyone interested in mathematics.
March 29, 2020
Thoroughly enjoyed this 2014 book about numbers. Explains in plain English complex mathematical concepts, including historic and philosophical dimensions.
Somewhere in the last 2-3 chapters I got quite out of my comfort zone and started to wonder - just what is mathematics good for? Is mathematics really of any relevance to my life anymore?
But Alex Bellos was able to retain enough relatedness and good humour for the book to land despite the stretch at the end. If it lacked that stretch it might lack endurance as a book.
Writers in STEM often take a particular perspective on the field, inevitable given the breadth and depth in the current era.
Bellos is an Oxford graduate of Mathematics and Philosophy - a terrific combination, but he works as a numerate foreign correspondent in Argentina. He performed many interviews for this book.
I did find the mathematics history and philosophy more interesting than some of the current advanced mathematics, and mathematicians. It seemed the more contemporary and refined the maths gets, the more 'odd' get the characters and concepts.
Greatly enjoyed.
Somewhere in the last 2-3 chapters I got quite out of my comfort zone and started to wonder - just what is mathematics good for? Is mathematics really of any relevance to my life anymore?
But Alex Bellos was able to retain enough relatedness and good humour for the book to land despite the stretch at the end. If it lacked that stretch it might lack endurance as a book.
Writers in STEM often take a particular perspective on the field, inevitable given the breadth and depth in the current era.
Bellos is an Oxford graduate of Mathematics and Philosophy - a terrific combination, but he works as a numerate foreign correspondent in Argentina. He performed many interviews for this book.
I did find the mathematics history and philosophy more interesting than some of the current advanced mathematics, and mathematicians. It seemed the more contemporary and refined the maths gets, the more 'odd' get the characters and concepts.
Greatly enjoyed.
March 31, 2022
Some interesting trivia on maths. A few in particular I enjoyed reading about:
- Benford's law: used for detecting data manipulation such financial fraud, tweaked results in voting or scientific studies etc.
- There are 360 degree in a circle because the Babylonians used the sexagesimal system (base 60 as opposed to our base 10
- How historically height of mountains and the radius of earth were measured with SOH CAH TO
-How triangulation was used for drawing maps - where the UK's trig points come from
- How a clothoid curve is used to create a comfortable change for the body to move along, when driving, on trains or on rollercoasters and change from sections of straight and curved ('named after Clotho, the youngest of the three Fates, who spun the threads of life as the curve spins around its two poles')
I must admit I didn't delve into and try and follow all of the calculations as I was feeling like a lighter read!(and partly because I already knew about some of the aspects such as differentiation)
- Benford's law: used for detecting data manipulation such financial fraud, tweaked results in voting or scientific studies etc.
- There are 360 degree in a circle because the Babylonians used the sexagesimal system (base 60 as opposed to our base 10
- How historically height of mountains and the radius of earth were measured with SOH CAH TO
-How triangulation was used for drawing maps - where the UK's trig points come from
- How a clothoid curve is used to create a comfortable change for the body to move along, when driving, on trains or on rollercoasters and change from sections of straight and curved ('named after Clotho, the youngest of the three Fates, who spun the threads of life as the curve spins around its two poles')
I must admit I didn't delve into and try and follow all of the calculations as I was feeling like a lighter read!(and partly because I already knew about some of the aspects such as differentiation)
August 26, 2020
Purchase Alex Through the Looking Glass here for just $12!
Translating complex mathematical concepts and ideas using examples across art and history to demonstrate how they apply to life and the world around us. You don’t need to be good at maths to be completely enthralled with this book.
Hermann- The Book Grocer
Translating complex mathematical concepts and ideas using examples across art and history to demonstrate how they apply to life and the world around us. You don’t need to be good at maths to be completely enthralled with this book.
Hermann- The Book Grocer
June 24, 2017
This is a fascinating book, which describes simply the mathematical concepts which govern our world. Bellos strikes the right balance between being patronisingly simplistic and being excessively professorial, and thus manages to create this compulsive read. The book’s explanations of famous mathematical concepts, interspersed with entertaining anecdotes, are accessible and mind-boggling in equal measure, and produce a book that could be recommended to anyone.
December 27, 2018
Very good. Would have wanted it to go into more detail in places, but this is a very good place to start when trying to work out which areas you want to do further research into. Probably not quite as good as numberland. It’s also nice that it can be read without knowing any of the content in numberland.
March 30, 2020
A it more complicated from the math point of view that the first one, so I really need to take my time understand it ( it could not be read before going to bed ). Full of details about the live of mathematicians and insights about how they manage to make discoveries in a lot of math branches.
I really liked the conclusion:
"Math is, and always has been, a game. it's the game of life."
I really liked the conclusion:
"Math is, and always has been, a game. it's the game of life."
April 6, 2019
Brilliant.
If you love numbers, or maths, then you'll love this book.
This is definately one of the best books I've ever read. Some parts are difficult to get your head round but the author does make allowances for this.
If you love numbers, or maths, then you'll love this book.
This is definately one of the best books I've ever read. Some parts are difficult to get your head round but the author does make allowances for this.
June 18, 2020
I loved this book, particularly the beginning (the ending probably gets a little too dense for me). It explores mathematical concepts and where they appear in nature and life. If you’re interested in mathematics but not in the field yourself, I recommend this book.
June 8, 2017
I love how Alex Bellos writes so passionately about maths, and shows his readers how interesting and exciting maths is.
June 14, 2017
Loved the cell automaton chapter
January 25, 2018
Very good good book on the introduction to maths. If I read this book in school I probably will develop more interest in maths.
March 11, 2022
A little too technical for me.
January 21, 2021
A treat for the lovers of mathematics. In each chapter, Alex picks up a mathematical topic explains it thoroughly, going through its definition, history, uses and current relevance and gives the reader a good education. Except for the last chapter 'Cell Mates', which was tough for me to follow, the others were very informative.
In Every number tells a story , a lot of trivia around numbers and its appearance are mentioned. For instance, how people, including pythogarus interpreted odd and even numbers. Odd is considered male and strong; reasons for this include the odd number not getting divided by even numbers and also when an even is added to odd it remains odd, thus depicting a master/male behavior, while even numbers are vulnerable to split and are thus weak and benign.
In East Asia, number 4 means death and hence there would be no floors, seats in aeroplane with this number. Another TIL moment is the realization why sale items are depicted one less than the round numbers (for ex, 399, 499 etc. instead of 400, 500). Non-round large numbers causes us to see these numbers smaller, for ex. when read from left to right 799 appears smaller than 800 and it has also been identified experimentally that people subconsciously associate numbers ending with 9 with bargains.
The The long tail of the law describes a mathematically property known as Benford's law and Power law. Benford's law is an observation of the frequency distribution of leading digits in many real-life sets of numerical data and is used in fraud detection. Power law describes functional relationship between two quantities, and there most prominent example of this law is the animal size proportionality.
In Love Triangle , the importance of triangles, including the revolutionary trigonometric functions sine, cosine tan are explained along with its extended uses such as in prosthaphaeris (the use of add/subtract instead of multiply) and Napiers log. This has revolutionized cartography, one big example is the Great trigonometric survey of India conducted under the command of George Everest, who found that Everest was the highest peak, before which that title was accorded to Chimborazo in Ecuador.
In Cone heads , the properties of ellipse and how it came about to define planetary motion is explained, while parabola and its ability to focus, have been used in microscope techniques of spies, TV sound engineers and birdwatchers. Also before advent of electronic calculators, nomograms (using geometrics and graphs for problem solving) were used for calculating.
Bring on the Revolution is about circles and waves. Did you know how pi = 3.14 came about ? In every circle, circumference / diameter = 3.14. The fourier series was an important discovery, that simplifies sound and makes it theoretically possible to play a Beethoven in tuning fork, that is indistinguishable to orchestra. Switching sound wave from time domain to frequency domain makes it easy to capture and thus came the mp3s. In fact, Dolby software turns sound waves to sinusoids and thus help make the necessary edits and enhancements.
In the event of exponential growth, the 'doubling time' is identified using the rule of 72 (72/x). Plotting the exponential growth chart, the mathematical measure of steepness (change in height/change in distance), also known as gradient is an important factor. There is a constant value 'e', where the gradient and the height is always equal and has the value 2.718 and this is referred to as the exponential constant. In All about e , this is the number that is discussed. There are lot of equations and situations that use 'e', some of them are :
* Calculating the exponential decay y = 1/e^x (gradient is negative of height)
* Catenary - correct geometry of a string hanging from 2 points. When upside down, most stable shape for free standing arch - e^(ax) + e^(-ax) / 2 - used in architecture
* Secretary or Marriage problem - maximize your chances of choosing best match is to interview /date, 36.8% (1/e) candidates.
Negative numbers are discussed in The power of negative thinking . Another TIL moment is realizing that negative * negative = positive servers only to make the arithmetic coherent, but has no meaning beyond the system. An interesting proof proving this is as below:
- 3 * -2 = -6
(4-1)* -2 =-6
-8 * (-1 * -2) = -6
(-1 * -2) = 2
A historical trivia: Algebra (from al-jabr, meaning restoration) and algorithm were derived by/from Muhama ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi
One mathematical item that flummoxes pretty much all Indian students is the Calculus. In Professor Calculus , this property is explored. Although it was Newton who initially identified the use of Calculus, he used the flexions, but Leibniz defined it more clearly and used the term calculus integralis which stuck. In short, Integration for calculating area while differentiation is for calculating gradient (infinitesimal small change). Another TIL, is the fact that the initial roller coaster models caused head and neck injuries, because the correct shape/speed to be used while moving from straight to a curved track was not identified. Later the shape Clothoid was introduced to roller coasters, using Stenger's principles, in the 1970s that helped avert such injuries.
In The titl of this chapter contains three Erors , the author describes the various principles, including the use of theorems and proofs, initially used by Euclid and how it has become a standard system to prove mathematical concepts. With technological assistance today, proof assistant are used in computers to verify proof.
In Every number tells a story , a lot of trivia around numbers and its appearance are mentioned. For instance, how people, including pythogarus interpreted odd and even numbers. Odd is considered male and strong; reasons for this include the odd number not getting divided by even numbers and also when an even is added to odd it remains odd, thus depicting a master/male behavior, while even numbers are vulnerable to split and are thus weak and benign.
In East Asia, number 4 means death and hence there would be no floors, seats in aeroplane with this number. Another TIL moment is the realization why sale items are depicted one less than the round numbers (for ex, 399, 499 etc. instead of 400, 500). Non-round large numbers causes us to see these numbers smaller, for ex. when read from left to right 799 appears smaller than 800 and it has also been identified experimentally that people subconsciously associate numbers ending with 9 with bargains.
The The long tail of the law describes a mathematically property known as Benford's law and Power law. Benford's law is an observation of the frequency distribution of leading digits in many real-life sets of numerical data and is used in fraud detection. Power law describes functional relationship between two quantities, and there most prominent example of this law is the animal size proportionality.
In Love Triangle , the importance of triangles, including the revolutionary trigonometric functions sine, cosine tan are explained along with its extended uses such as in prosthaphaeris (the use of add/subtract instead of multiply) and Napiers log. This has revolutionized cartography, one big example is the Great trigonometric survey of India conducted under the command of George Everest, who found that Everest was the highest peak, before which that title was accorded to Chimborazo in Ecuador.
In Cone heads , the properties of ellipse and how it came about to define planetary motion is explained, while parabola and its ability to focus, have been used in microscope techniques of spies, TV sound engineers and birdwatchers. Also before advent of electronic calculators, nomograms (using geometrics and graphs for problem solving) were used for calculating.
Bring on the Revolution is about circles and waves. Did you know how pi = 3.14 came about ? In every circle, circumference / diameter = 3.14. The fourier series was an important discovery, that simplifies sound and makes it theoretically possible to play a Beethoven in tuning fork, that is indistinguishable to orchestra. Switching sound wave from time domain to frequency domain makes it easy to capture and thus came the mp3s. In fact, Dolby software turns sound waves to sinusoids and thus help make the necessary edits and enhancements.
In the event of exponential growth, the 'doubling time' is identified using the rule of 72 (72/x). Plotting the exponential growth chart, the mathematical measure of steepness (change in height/change in distance), also known as gradient is an important factor. There is a constant value 'e', where the gradient and the height is always equal and has the value 2.718 and this is referred to as the exponential constant. In All about e , this is the number that is discussed. There are lot of equations and situations that use 'e', some of them are :
* Calculating the exponential decay y = 1/e^x (gradient is negative of height)
* Catenary - correct geometry of a string hanging from 2 points. When upside down, most stable shape for free standing arch - e^(ax) + e^(-ax) / 2 - used in architecture
* Secretary or Marriage problem - maximize your chances of choosing best match is to interview /date, 36.8% (1/e) candidates.
Negative numbers are discussed in The power of negative thinking . Another TIL moment is realizing that negative * negative = positive servers only to make the arithmetic coherent, but has no meaning beyond the system. An interesting proof proving this is as below:
- 3 * -2 = -6
(4-1)* -2 =-6
-8 * (-1 * -2) = -6
(-1 * -2) = 2
A historical trivia: Algebra (from al-jabr, meaning restoration) and algorithm were derived by/from Muhama ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi
One mathematical item that flummoxes pretty much all Indian students is the Calculus. In Professor Calculus , this property is explored. Although it was Newton who initially identified the use of Calculus, he used the flexions, but Leibniz defined it more clearly and used the term calculus integralis which stuck. In short, Integration for calculating area while differentiation is for calculating gradient (infinitesimal small change). Another TIL, is the fact that the initial roller coaster models caused head and neck injuries, because the correct shape/speed to be used while moving from straight to a curved track was not identified. Later the shape Clothoid was introduced to roller coasters, using Stenger's principles, in the 1970s that helped avert such injuries.
In The titl of this chapter contains three Erors , the author describes the various principles, including the use of theorems and proofs, initially used by Euclid and how it has become a standard system to prove mathematical concepts. With technological assistance today, proof assistant are used in computers to verify proof.
October 3, 2024
It's just such a joy! I read Alex in wonderland, and I was absolutely taken aback by how much fun I had with it. Admittedly, I am biased by a love of mathematics, but I truly believe Alex Bellos' writing has a bit of magic in it for making it so exciting again - there's a bit of childlike wonder in his take on concepts that to me have become mundane. Also, admittedly, it was great to read this alongside a semester with a wonderful ordinary differential equations teacher, who met many of the famous mathematicians in the book and had many personal quips that added to the experience. Definitely a duad of books I'll come back to!
September 27, 2024
THIS IS REALLY GOOOOODD, the most annotated book this year (so far). i love the way this book describes the history of each math concept and how they related to each other in a very mind-blowing way. my favorite chapter : benford's law, euler, and IMAGINARY NUMBERS (sooo beautiful).
MATH IS THAT POWERFUL, it is the way to understand the world. this book is more than enough to shut somebody that said math is useless.
MATH IS THAT POWERFUL, it is the way to understand the world. this book is more than enough to shut somebody that said math is useless.
March 10, 2025
offers plenty of intriguing trivia and fascinating stories about mathematics, but it’s not always the easiest read. While individual sections are engaging, the book lacks a strong overarching narrative.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews