- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Phoenix; New Ed edition (2 Jun 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0753818825
- ISBN-13: 978-0753818824
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
-
Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
107,281 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4 in Books > Science & Nature > Mathematics > Numbers > Infinity
| ||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Everything and More: A Compact History of [Infinity Symbol] for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"Our lives keep getting fuller and faster - but remain finite. Perhaps that is what makes the concept of inifinity, the subject of this study, so fascinating." (THE TIMES )
"No one can accuse Foster Wallace of being stuffy; his book is engagingly dishevelled... Foster Wallace shows his love for Maths." (TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT )
"No one can accuse Foster Wallace of being stuffy; his book is engagingly dishevelled... Foster Wallace shows his love for Maths." (TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT )
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
"Wallace approaches his subject matter with a surprising degree of humor, genuine enthusiasm, and technical depth."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
Unfortunately this is a Foreword you actually have to read-and first-in order to understand certain structural idiosyncrasies and bits of what almost look like code in the main text. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Unfortunately this is a Foreword you actually have to read-and first-in order to understand certain structural idiosyncrasies and bits of what almost look like code in the main text. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
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.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
