The Music of the Primes
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Review
'Du Sautoy is a contagious enthusiast, a populist with a staunch faith in the public's intelligence…he has uncovered a wealth of intriguing anecdotes that he has woven into a compelling narrative.' Observer
'He laces the ideas with history, anecdote and personalia – an entertaining mix that renders an austere subject palatable…valiant and ingenious…Even those with a mathematical allergy can enjoy du Sautoy's depictions of his cast of characters' The Times
'He brings hugely enjoyable writing, full of zest and passion, to the most fundamental questions in the pursuit of true knowledge.' Sunday Times
'A mesmerising journey into the world of mathematics and its mysteries.' Daily Mail
'A brilliant storyteller.' Independent
Review
'Du Sautoy is a contagious enthusiast, a populist with a staunch faith in the public's intelligence!he has uncovered a wealth of intriguing anecdotes that he has woven into a compelling narrative.' Observer 'He laces the ideas with history, anecdote and personalia -- an entertaining mix that renders an austere subject palatable!valiant and ingenious!Even those with a mathematical allergy can enjoy du Sautoy's depictions of his cast of characters' The Times 'He brings hugely enjoyable writing, full of zest and passion, to the most fundamental questions in the pursuit of true knowledge.' Sunday Times 'A mesmerising journey into the world of mathematics and its mysteries.' Daily Mail 'A brilliant storyteller.' Independent
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
64 of 66 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It was Singh's "Fermat's Last Theorem" that led me to look for another book on Number Theory, and I'm very pleased I stumbled upon "The Music of the Primes". I've read a lot of popular science books, but this is definitely my favourite.
It is incredibly easy to read, and the author gets the balance perfectly right between historical information, description of individuals and circumstances, and the maths itself. I'm pleased the maths isn't covered too thoroughly - I suspect it would have left me upset that I couldn't follow it, and negatively affected the overall story. If you do feel the need, it's simple to get any information you like on the maths involved from the web - I have a print out of a very good explanation of the zeta function now tucked in the back of the book.
The subject matter is mind-blowing, and I'm appalled that I hadn't heard about it properly before. I would love to have found out about this at a younger age, and will force my own children to read it as soon as possible!!
47 of 50 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a book I found fascinating and infuriating in turns. It is an excellent layman's history of number theory with particular reference to prime numbers and the Riemann zeta function. As such it is well worth the reading.
However I found that there are certain elements, more of style than anything else, that annoyed me. Most of the results are handed to us without any proof whatsoever. All right, some of these proofs would be obviously well beyond the layman, but one is described as being understandable by the ancient Greeks (who started the whole thing) so why not include it as a footnote or appendix?
Having established fairly early on that the points where a mathematical function "reaches sea level" are known as zeros, why keep reverting to the sea level analogy?
And although the underlying theme throughout the book is the apparent inextricable link between the zeta function's zeros and counting primes, the Riemann hypothesis, I could find no clear, concise statement of exactly what Riemann said.
Spanning over 2000 years, from the ancient Greeks to the 21st century, this is a book I would thoroughly recommend.
However I found that there are certain elements, more of style than anything else, that annoyed me. Most of the results are handed to us without any proof whatsoever. All right, some of these proofs would be obviously well beyond the layman, but one is described as being understandable by the ancient Greeks (who started the whole thing) so why not include it as a footnote or appendix?
Having established fairly early on that the points where a mathematical function "reaches sea level" are known as zeros, why keep reverting to the sea level analogy?
And although the underlying theme throughout the book is the apparent inextricable link between the zeta function's zeros and counting primes, the Riemann hypothesis, I could find no clear, concise statement of exactly what Riemann said.
Spanning over 2000 years, from the ancient Greeks to the 21st century, this is a book I would thoroughly recommend.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is very much a journalistic take on attempts to tackle the Riemann hypothesis - one of the unproven theories about prime numbers, a theory which has wide ramifications. Marcus du Sautoy writes enthusiastically and very readably about the personalities of mathematicians who have been lured into trying to tackle the problem. But for me there is too little attempt to explain the maths, and this leaves a big hole in the book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
music of the primes
An absolutely fascinating and captivating book. As gripping as a thriller; had me mesmerised from page 1. Deeply challenging though never boring. Read more
Published 24 days ago by Dr. Jeffrey J. Purcell
Brilliant
This book is not a rigorous Math textbook and it does not purport itself as such to answer the person who complained about the lack of proof in it; there is little, if any... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Yaqub
A page-turning who's not dunnit
The Music Of The Primes by Marcus du Sautoy is not a book for the faint-hearted. The author may be a populariser of mathematics, but certainly in this book there is plenty of... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Philip Spires
A readable account of a very esoteric subject.
Marcus du Sautoy has succeeded in a very difficult task. He has written a book about mathematics for non-mathematicians. It's almost like watching a BBC 4 documentary. Read more
Published 22 months ago by W. Gillies
Excellent popular maths book
Excellent, well written book. The best popular book on maths I've read. The author weaves the history of maths and biographies of eminent mathematicians around the search for... Read more
Published on 22 Mar 2010 by William Broadhead
wonderful book
Marcus du Sautoy has written a great book explaining the Riemann Hypothesis, I would recommend this book
Published on 7 Feb 2010 by E. Smith
Never dry, but still plenty of meat for the afficianado
Ever since I read Simon Singh's "Fermat's Last Theorem" I had wanted a similar treatment of the Riemann Hypothesis, and here it is. Read more
Published on 13 Jun 2009 by M. Appleton
book review
Thoroughly enjoyable and clearly written book about those strange numbers called primes, which leaves you with a fascination for them (if you didn't have it already). Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2009 by tonyB
Fascinating, but flawed
The Music of the Primes by Marcus du Sautoy is an interesting look at the history of mathematical discoveries surrounding the prime numbers. Read more
Published on 1 Jan 2009 by Mr. D. N. Sumption
Good but not great
It was fascinating to read about all these famous mathematicians and their backgrounds. It was great to be able to put a face, a personality and a background to an equation that I... Read more
Published on 14 Mar 2008 by K. Koh
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