In this remarkable book, Robert P. Crease explores the equations that have influenced human history from 1+1=2--a "fairy-tale equation" that pro...
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reviews
Sep 13, 2011
Benjaminxjackson
rated it: 
The Great Equations is a science and mathematics book for popular readers, which is its strength and its weakness. The strength is that the text is accessible to just about any reader with some smattering of science and mathematics in their schooling. The weakness is that sometimes I found it a little too basic and too quick to gloss over details and proofs for equations.
One of the interesting things is how the book demonstrates the way science progresses in fits and starts. It also More...
One of the interesting things is how the book demonstrates the way science progresses in fits and starts. It also More...
Sep 07, 2010
Max
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The Great Equations is a great book that explains everything you will ever need to know about maths history and the way it has become the way it is today.
The Great Equations starts from the first equation being 1+1=2 and ends explaining The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. Along the way we see Menos' paradox and how Pythagoras had nothing to do with the creation of the Pythagorean theorem (it was invented possibly a thousand years before Pythagoras was born in India). More...
The Great Equations starts from the first equation being 1+1=2 and ends explaining The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. Along the way we see Menos' paradox and how Pythagoras had nothing to do with the creation of the Pythagorean theorem (it was invented possibly a thousand years before Pythagoras was born in India). More...
Oct 10, 2011
Upom
rated it:
So often our culture forgets science and in our march to progress. Crease even noted that Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present barely mentions science, although mentioning almost every other aspect of a forgotten American history. Sadly, Crease also mentioned a simple rule of thumb publishers use for math in a book: for every math equation added to a popular book for science and readers, the sales of books drop by half. It's for sad reasons like these that I fee
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Jan 17, 2010
TheIron
rated it:
An enlightening read for those of interested in mathematics but with limited knowledge. This book is mostly history and philosophy but with a modest amount of math that you can either work through or half bleep over without affecting the author's message too much. More difficult to deal with are some of the concepts that don't fit my day to day understanding of reality. One of the interesting concepts brought forth in the discussion of quantum mechanics is the "anschaulicht" - the pr
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Apr 17, 2011
Raunaq
rated it:
Keeping in mind that Robert Crease is not a mathematician or a physicist, I think he has done a good job writing this book. He starts by illustrating the nature of proof(mathematics) and physical law(physics) and shows really well how these notions developed historically. He keeps in mind the distinction between math and physics throughout the book. I think this is a good popular science book for the non-experts entering the field of theoretical physics.
Sep 22, 2009
Ron
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Even for a non-math person such as myself, this was a very interesting book. Crease is a good writer and brings a wide range of expertise to the topic making it understandable for those of us whose math is just basic. I recommend it highly.
Aug 31, 2011
Arvid
rated it:
fun intro to some, well, great equations. Wish it went more in depth in some stuff. Author's sidebars were very editorialized - some a little silly, but well meaning and interesting to think about.
Oct 29, 2009
Rather repetative - so you have to take some time in between equestions. Crease does a good job and has enlightened me about some of my favorites (e.g Newton's second)
May 16, 2010
Moezur
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One definitely needs a background in Math to keep up. While some parts were very entertaining, with regards to the history of equations, other parts that broke down the composition of the formula's themselves really made the book difficult to follow.
May 11, 2011
Steffi
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I'm surprised at how many people complained that this book requires math and physics knowledge. This isn't a math book at all - it's about history. The chapter on Euler is good, because the math is explicit. Otherwise, the purpose of this book is not to explain the math - which would have required many more technical explanations - but to describe the history surrounding the equations. The philosophical discussions are sloppy. I still don't understand E=mc^2.
Jun 10, 2011
Brandon
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My book had several pages out of order and was missing an entire section.
Feb 11, 2009
John
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By the time I got to Euhler's equation, there was blood oozing from my ears. Crease writes with great passion; all his loving words went right over my head.
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