- Hardcover: 336 pages
- Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson; First Edition edition (13 Nov 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0297645676
- ISBN-13: 978-0297645672
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14.8 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
528,784 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #18 in Books > Science & Nature > Mathematics > Numbers > Infinity
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Review
"The tics and pleasures of his prose are all present and correct." (TIME OUT )
"There aren't many books about mathematics that will have you laughing out loud, but this is one of them. It's a great read.... takes a novelists (and novel) look at infinity , has the maths and the history, as well as dry and very funny asides and - most impressive of all - the flair and the style to pull all of it together. " (NEW SCIENTIST )
"David Foster Wallace misses no opportunity away from the necessarily strict wording of mathematical argument for verbal play." (ADAM MARS JONES THE OBSERVER REVIEW )
"Weirdly wonderful." (THE TELEGRAPH )
"The 41-year-old Wallace is probably the most important novelist of his generation, and he has fans who will follow him even into differential equations." (BOSTON GLOBE )
"infinity is irresistible meat for the popularizer, and quite a few books in that vein have appeared over the years. Now, in Everything and More: A Compact History of 8 the celebrated author David Foster Wallace has set out to initiate readers into its mysteries. (THE NEW YORKER )
"Wallace approaches his subject matter with a surprising degree of humor, genuine enthusiasm, and technical depth." (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR )
"Wallace does an admirable job unwinding what he calls "the Story of Infinity's overall dynamic, whereby certain paradoxes give rise to conceptual advances that can handle those original paradoxes but in turn give rise to new paradoxes, which then generate further conceptual advances, and so on." " (SALON )
"Less than a third the size of Infinite Jest, Everything and More sees the king of cross-purposes taking on the biggest, most dread-inducing paradox of all, with results as thrilling and maddening, as open-ended and self-devouring, as much of his fiction." (VILLAGE VOICE )
"David Foster Wallace is a scarily smart writer" (THE ONION )
"David Foster Wallace, author of the brainy best seller Infinite Jest, sees beauty in numbers and has found an engaging way to discuss them." (WIRED )
"Approachable, fun, entertaining, informative... keep reading with enjoyment and pleasure until you reach the end." (FOCUS )
"There aren't many books about mathematics that will have you laughing out loud, but this is one of them. It's a great read.... takes a novelists (and novel) look at infinity , has the maths and the history, as well as dry and very funny asides and - most impressive of all - the flair and the style to pull all of it together. " (NEW SCIENTIST )
"David Foster Wallace misses no opportunity away from the necessarily strict wording of mathematical argument for verbal play." (ADAM MARS JONES THE OBSERVER REVIEW )
"Weirdly wonderful." (THE TELEGRAPH )
"The 41-year-old Wallace is probably the most important novelist of his generation, and he has fans who will follow him even into differential equations." (BOSTON GLOBE )
"infinity is irresistible meat for the popularizer, and quite a few books in that vein have appeared over the years. Now, in Everything and More: A Compact History of 8 the celebrated author David Foster Wallace has set out to initiate readers into its mysteries. (THE NEW YORKER )
"Wallace approaches his subject matter with a surprising degree of humor, genuine enthusiasm, and technical depth." (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR )
"Wallace does an admirable job unwinding what he calls "the Story of Infinity's overall dynamic, whereby certain paradoxes give rise to conceptual advances that can handle those original paradoxes but in turn give rise to new paradoxes, which then generate further conceptual advances, and so on." " (SALON )
"Less than a third the size of Infinite Jest, Everything and More sees the king of cross-purposes taking on the biggest, most dread-inducing paradox of all, with results as thrilling and maddening, as open-ended and self-devouring, as much of his fiction." (VILLAGE VOICE )
"David Foster Wallace is a scarily smart writer" (THE ONION )
"David Foster Wallace, author of the brainy best seller Infinite Jest, sees beauty in numbers and has found an engaging way to discuss them." (WIRED )
"Approachable, fun, entertaining, informative... keep reading with enjoyment and pleasure until you reach the end." (FOCUS )
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
"Wallace approaches his subject matter with a surprising degree of humor, genuine enthusiasm, and technical depth."
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
DFW (as he would no doubt abbreviate himself) tells an interesting story of the struggle with transfinite numbers from ancient Greece to the 20th century. Although intended for a general audience, I think that, without quite a lot of maths behind you, this book would be pretty hard going. As someone who was familiar with most of the concepts, I found the presentation often seemed willfully obtuse (especially when he claimed to be making it extra-simple).
The book is peppered with the usual Wallace-isms of abbreivations, footnote, interludes and interpolations. The abbreviations were often unhelpful; the footnotes often very interesting. In some places his style makes the book very entertaining and in others infuriating.
Ultimately, I found this book an enjoyable read but mostly from the historical perspective. The technical content is variable and the really interesting stuff at the end is (perhaps necessarily) only given a very cursory discussion. I wouldn't recommend it for the layman, and it might annoy the expert, but I think there is fun to be had for those with a bit of background in the subject and a mind open to a pretty unique mode of presentation.
The book is peppered with the usual Wallace-isms of abbreivations, footnote, interludes and interpolations. The abbreviations were often unhelpful; the footnotes often very interesting. In some places his style makes the book very entertaining and in others infuriating.
Ultimately, I found this book an enjoyable read but mostly from the historical perspective. The technical content is variable and the really interesting stuff at the end is (perhaps necessarily) only given a very cursory discussion. I wouldn't recommend it for the layman, and it might annoy the expert, but I think there is fun to be had for those with a bit of background in the subject and a mind open to a pretty unique mode of presentation.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Enjoyment of this book very much depends on whether you enjoy Wallace's writing style, it's wilful use of abbreviations and use of back-references without page numbers mean full comprehension is only really achievable on a second reading. However, Wallace's enthusiasm for the subject matter and ability to make a highly abstract topic entertaining mean that, for the interested layman, this book is an excellent way to gain an overview of development of set theory and whets the appetite for taking on a more in-depth investigation.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Yes, I have to agree that the use of acronyms and abbreviations can be a little irritating but you do get used to the style and it is definitely worth persevering. This is not an easy book, and I found it tough going at times even with some University-level maths behind me. The subject matter is facinating and the author is clearly a very smart cookie. I made it through and learned a great deal, but certainly not all that the book has to offer. Finishing with some sense of comprehension is a very rewarding feeling, but I think I will have to read it again after brushing up on my real analysis.
I find it difficult to see how someone without much maths could follow the book. 4 stars to compensate for the previous reviewer, who by her own admission read less that a sixth of the book.
I find it difficult to see how someone without much maths could follow the book. 4 stars to compensate for the previous reviewer, who by her own admission read less that a sixth of the book.
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