Wonders beyond numbers
Subtitle: a brief history of all things mathematical
By: Johnny Ball
Series: Bloomsbury sigma series; Bloomsbury sigma series
Publisher: Bloomsbury Sigma
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 480
ISBN-13: 9781472939999; 9781472939982
Copyright date: 2017
Subjects: Mathematics; History
Description: Johnny Ball has been a well-loved name in mathematics for many years. Wonders Beyond Numbers is his magnum opus, and his first book for more than ten years. It is nothing less than the history of mathematics; he describes it as 'a summation of my career as an enthusiast for mathematics'. It will help spark (or re-spark) the reader's love of maths in its many facets. The scope of the book is breathtaking. Running in something approaching chronological order, it shows that every breakthrough in maths represents a single step forward, resting on the work of others, and it brings to life the importance of numbers, shapes and patterns in the world around us.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 469-470) and indexes.
Table of contents: title: Preface: Mathematics means everything to me...; title: Wow Factor Mathematical Index explained; title: Introduction: Russian sums in an English pub, circa 1946; title: The most ancient mathematics legend; title: The first two great mathematicians; title: The great age of Grecian geeks; title: Archimedes: the greatest Greet of them all; title: The glory that was Alexandria; title: Total eclipse of the Greeks; title: Maths origins, far and wide; title: Mathematics was never a religion; title: Discovering the unknown world; title: The huge awakening and new age of learning; title: How to calculate anything and everything; title: A mathematician with gravitas; title: The simple mathematics that underpins science; title: The many tentacles of mathematics; title: Wow Factor Mathematical Index.