num_pages: 312
description: The ancient Greeks discovered them but it wasn't until the nineteenth century that irrational numbers were properly understood and rigorously defined and even today not all their mysteries have been revealed. In The Irrationals  the first popular and comprehensive book on the subject Julian Havil tells the story of irrational numbers and the mathematicians who have tackled their challenges from antiquity to the twenty-first century. Along the way he explains why irrational numbers are surprisingly difficult to defineand why so many questions still surround them. Fascinating and illuminating this is a book for everyone who loves math and the history behind it.
language: English
title: The Irrationals: A Story of the Numbers You Can't Count On
publisher: Princeton University Press