We have learnt that there is safety in numbers. Our understanding of the world around us has grown with our appreciation of its habits and repetitions. We live in a world of consequences rather than coincidences. This understanding of the way the world is founded upon our discovery of the power and utility of "number" in unravelling its innermost workings. From the farthest reaches of space to the inner space of elementary particles of matter we have found the world to dance to a mathematical tune. This book takes a philosophical look at mathematics, and asks whether it is just a human invention, a discovery, part of the mind of God, or a game played on paper with any rules we like. It should be of interest to physicists, philosophers of science, and general readers.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Jim Kennedy
Format:Hardcover
This is a bit of a rushed review after reading about 2/3 of the book and after seeing its low rating here due to a 1 star review. I will update it when I am finished the book. This is a fascinating book, not exactly on what one normally knows of mathematics, but on what mathematics really is - and why it is. Traversing the history of maths from rudimentary counting to formalism and Godel and further, he analyses questions such as: how mathematics came to be - or did it exist and we just found it; did we evolve in such a way as to inherently understand it? His arguments are well thought out and well proposed and I cannot remember the last time I enjoyed a book on maths so much. That said - it is very tough going at times trying to keep track of the differences between the major philosophies - inventionism, formalism, intuitionism and so on. But hopefully worth it :)
so ... I hugely recommend this book ...
so ... I hugely recommend this book ...
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By P. Fagan
Format:Paperback
I read this book while in College based on a recommendation from one of my lecturers - a great read.... Offering good insights not just into pure mathematics, but also into the social reasons as to why we, as humans, are interested numbers at all. All in all a solid five stars in my opinion.
1 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I am not a stupid person.... good A-levels and presently studying maths at the ou.... but this book was terrible. this was mainly because of the way it was written. i found the bits of the book i could read very interesting but in the end it was not too much hard work. don't buy it if you want a light maths read.
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