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Review
Clifford Pickover, prolific writer and undisputed polymath, has put together a marvelous reference work. Its 250 short entries provide a veritable history of mathematics by focusing on its greatest theorems and the geniuses who discovered them. Topics are chronological, starting with the calculating abilities of ants 150 million years B.C. and ending with Max Tegmark's recent conjecture that our universe is not just described by math, it is mathematics. Dr. Pickover's vast love of math, and his awe before its mysteries, permeates every page of this beautiful volume. The illustrations alone are worth the book's price." --Martin Gardner, author of The Colossal Book of Mathematics on http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/pickover/math-book.html
Review
Praise for "The Math Book" and Clifford Pickover:
"Pickover contemplates realms beyond our known reality."--"The New York Times""I can't imagine anybody whose minds won't be stretched by [Pickover's] books."--Arthur C. Clarke"Bucky Fuller thought big, Arthur C. Clarke thinks big, but Cliff Pickover outdoes them both."--WIRED
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
"Pickover contemplates realms beyond our known reality."--"The New York Times""I can't imagine anybody whose minds won't be stretched by [Pickover's] books."--Arthur C. Clarke"Bucky Fuller thought big, Arthur C. Clarke thinks big, but Cliff Pickover outdoes them both."--WIRED
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A stunning book and an absolutely fascinating read, I just couldn't put this down! Now I am intelligent enough but certainly no genius. I've always been interested in mathematics but never felt brave enough to get any of those frightening texts you see on the subject. This however was accessible and yet entirely enthralling at the same time. Every topic - of 250!!!! - is given a couple of pages each with some truly gorgeous illustrations and/or photographs. I now find myself understanding a veritable mountain of mathematical concepts which were hitherto complete Greek to me. What's more the book is so visually fetching and covetable (and cheap!!!) I may well be giving a copy to all of my friends at Christmas!
52 of 53 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book certainly looks great. Unfortunately, my enthusiasm lessened a lot when I started reading. The only purpose of many of the figures seems to be to make the book look good. They contribute little or nothing to the topic that's being discussed. For example, on the pages discussing the Moebius strip one would expect a picture of a such a strip, but I don't see why there should be twelve, and what the spheres and stars are for is completely beyond me. Many topics are discussed very superficially. To give just a few examples. In the discussion of the normal distribution its expression can only vaguely been seen on the figure showing a German 10 mark note. The entry on group theory has a lot about the death of Galois, but after reading you will not know what a mathematical group is. The entry on Cantor's transfinite numbers fails the mention how to compare the size of infinite sets. If you are interested in the development of mathematics through the ages, then there are lots of good books on the history of mathematics. If you are looking for a collection of intriguing mathematical topics, then I would recommend the books by Ian Stewart. These books are not so flashy, but they have much more substance.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have a deep interest in mathematics, not least from formal training and I bought this book thinking that it might broaden my mathematical culture. This it certainly achieves as any thick volume of history of science invariably would, covering the subject chronologically, trying to frame each of these pieces of text from a human angle.
However, this rapidly gets formulaic, with a clear and repetitive pattern of writing, and pretty pictures that are not entirely relevant and not explained properly.
To be fair to the author, now that I have the book, it certainly looks like one of those coffee table tomes and it probably never was meant to be taken at a single reading, as I did. Each page of text, on its own, while hardly going into the detail of the maths, or even explaining in an insightful manner how this really fits into the body of work of mathematics, reads well.
So the treatment may not surprise or disappoint those with the expectation of light reading. It's just not aimed at readers with formal training in mathematics or a deep fascination with the subject.
However, this rapidly gets formulaic, with a clear and repetitive pattern of writing, and pretty pictures that are not entirely relevant and not explained properly.
To be fair to the author, now that I have the book, it certainly looks like one of those coffee table tomes and it probably never was meant to be taken at a single reading, as I did. Each page of text, on its own, while hardly going into the detail of the maths, or even explaining in an insightful manner how this really fits into the body of work of mathematics, reads well.
So the treatment may not surprise or disappoint those with the expectation of light reading. It's just not aimed at readers with formal training in mathematics or a deep fascination with the subject.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Brilliant book!
I don't agree with the reviewers that say this book is superficial. As someone who has in interest in mathematics and puzzles, I liked that this book had stuff that I just did not... Read more
Published 8 days ago by alexis farmer
math book
Good book which explain in a friendly way many of mathematical formula but still a bit heavy to read, it's math after all! Great book still, easy to consultate and very complete.
Published 4 months ago by Marilyn
Great idea, but poor, bad and terrible execution
The idea for the book is a good one - cover lots of different maths topics very briefly, and use colour pictures to illustrate each mathematical idea introduced. Read more
Published 11 months ago by J. Brady
All it's missing is the 's'!
A great book with lots of interesting articles, amazing pictures and the only criticism I have is the omission of an 'S' from the Maths in the title!
Published 15 months ago by SC
the math book
Reasonable Maths book with loads of topics, a one pager on that topic facing a colour photograph related to the topic. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Roberto
Overall, a good book
This book is a well rounded summary of many mathematical concepts developed over the ages, with a new concept on each page. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Charles
Cicadas to Rubik's Cube
In his previous science book, "Archimedes to Hawking", Cliff Pickover explored the great laws of science and the lives of the physicists and chemists who discovered the laws. Read more
Published on 22 April 2010 by Paul Moskowitz
Interesting and beautiful
As in another review was said: simply because of the photographs this book is worth its price. It's an interesting and thorough revision of the history of Maths. Read more
Published on 17 Mar 2010 by Javier Espinosa Ruiz
The Math Book - beauty for all ages and moods
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Published on 29 Jan 2010 by Teja K.
beautifully mathematical
never has a Maths book been so beautiful.... amazingly eye-opening! There is no need to be an expert in Maths to enjoy this wonderful book. It is easy to follow and detailed. Read more
Published on 4 Jan 2010 by Giardino Leonardo
Listmania!
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