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Number: The Language of Science
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Number: The Language of Science Paperback - 2007

by Tobias Dantzig; Joseph Mazur

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Number is an eloquent, accessible tour de force that reveals how the concept of number evolved from prehistoric times through the twentieth century. Tobias Dantzig shows that the development of math from the invention of counting to the discovery of infinity is a profoundly human story that progressed by 'trying and erring, by groping and stumbling.' He shows how commerce, war, and religion led to advances in math, and he recounts the stories of individuals whose breakthroughs expanded the concept of number and created the mathematics that we know today.

Summary

Number is an eloquent, accessible tour de force that reveals how the concept of number evolved from prehistoric times through the twentieth century. Tobias Dantzig shows that the development of math—from the invention of counting to the discovery of infinity—is a profoundly human story that progressed by “trying and erring, by groping and stumbling.” He shows how commerce, war, and religion led to advances in math, and he recounts the stories of individuals whose breakthroughs expanded the concept of number and created the mathematics that we know today.

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From the publisher

"Beyond doubt the most interesting book on the evolution of mathematics which has ever fallen into my hands."--Albert Einstein

Number is an eloquent, accessible tour de force that reveals how the concept of number evolved from prehistoric times through the twentieth century. Renowned professor of mathematics Tobias Dantzig shows that the development of math--from the invention of counting to the discovery of infinity--is a profoundly human story that progressed by "trying and erring, by groping and stumbling." He shows how commerce, war, and religion led to advances in math, and he recounts the stories of individuals whose breakthroughs expanded the concept of number and created the mathematics that we know today.

Details

  • Title Number: The Language of Science
  • Author Tobias Dantzig; Joseph Mazur
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Reprint
  • Pages 416
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Plume Books, Garden City, New York
  • Publication date January 30, 2007
  • Illustrated Yes
  • Features Bibliography, Illustrated, Index, Price on Product - Canadian, Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9780452288119 / 0452288118
  • Weight 0.77 lbs (0.35 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.02 x 5.38 x 0.94 in (20.37 x 13.67 x 2.39 cm)
  • Age range 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Category Mathematics
  • Library of Congress subjects History, Arithmetic
  • Dewey Decimal Code 510.1

Media reviews

Anyone interested in the history of numbers and mathematics should read this book. (Mario Livio, author of The Golden Ratio)

A classic . . . it deserves a place on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the history of thought. (Charles Seife, author of Zero and Decoding the Universe)

Beyond doubt the most interesting book on the evolution of mathematics which has ever fallen into my hands. (Albert Einstein)

About the author

Tobias Dantzig was born in Russia, and was taught by Henri Poincar in France before moving the United States. He received his Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Indiana, and was a professor of mathematics at the University of Maryland. He died in 1956.

Joseph Mazur is Professor of Mathematics at Marlboro College, where he has taught a wide range of classes in all areas of mathematics, its history, and philosophy.

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