Beschreibung:
Peter Higgins is a Professor of Mathematics at Essex University and inventor of Circular Sudoku. His previous books on mathematics include Mathematics for the Curious, Mathematics for the Imagination, and Nets, Puzzles and Postmen: An Exploration of Mathematical Connections.
Peter Higgins distills centuries of work into one delightful narrative that celebrates the mystery of numbers and explains how different kinds of numbers arose and why they are useful. Full of historical snippets and interesting examples, the book ranges from simple number puzzles and magic tricks, to showing how ideas about numbers relate to real-world problems. This fascinating book will inspire and entertain readers across a range of abilities. Easy material is blended with more challenging ideas. As our understanding of numbers continues to evolve, this book invites us to rediscover the mystery and beauty of numbers.
This is an entertaining introduction to the development of numbers and their applications. The book is written in the same user-friendly style that characterises the author's previous books. It blends easy material with more challenging ideas.
This is an entertaining introduction to the development of numbers and their applications. The book is written in the same user-friendly style that characterises the author's previous books. It blends easy material with more challenging ideas about infinity and complex numbers and is full of interesting examples ranging from recreational puzzles to very real world scenarios. There are historical notes, which give the mathematics context, and short digressions, while a final chapter, For Connoisseurs, provides the mathematical detail for those who would like to know more about the questions and techniques highlighted. The book will appeal to anyone who is curious about the mathematics behind real-life questions. It will inspire and motivate those thinking of studying mathematics at university, and will provide invaluable material for teachers and lecturers.
Preface; The First Numbers; Discovering Numbers; Some Number Tricks; Some Tricky Numbers; Some Useful Numbers; On the Trail of New Numbers; Glimpses of Infinity; Applications of Number: Chance; The Complex History of the Imaginary; From Imaginary to Complex; The Number Line Under the Miscroscope; Applications of Number: Codes and Public Key Cryptography; For Connoisseurs; Further Reading.- Index
