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69th out of 422 books
—
205 voters
Here's Looking at Euclid: A Surprising Excursion Through the Astonishing World of Math
by
Alex Bellos (Goodreads Author)
An excursion through the world of math that brings readers the joy and beauty of the mathematical way of thinking vividly to life.
Watch Alex Bellos demonstrating zombie multiplication on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG4iDp...
Watch Alex Bellos demonstrating zombie multiplication on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG4iDp...
Hardcover, 336 pages
Published
June 15th 2010
by Free Press
(first published 2010)
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Alex Bellos attempts to engage the general public in mathematics by describing maths in a way that anyone can understand. He commences by describing how different cultures use counting and numbers, and in many ways this is the most interesting part of the book. Several cultures, for instance, have no name for any quantity greater than about 4.
I have a degree in mathematics, but there were many things in the book that were new to me, and some that made my jaw drop. My feeling is though, that any...more
I have a degree in mathematics, but there were many things in the book that were new to me, and some that made my jaw drop. My feeling is though, that any...more
The world of maths can seem mind-boggling, irrelevant and, let's face it, boring. This groundbreaking book reclaims maths from the geeks.
This is how the blurb on the back cover starts. Alex's Adventures in Numberland isn't quite as awful as that suggests, but it's very apparent Bellos is a journalist, not a mathematician. He shares with most of his colleagues a subconscious but profound contempt of experts (to his credit, at least it is subconscious), an inability to distinguish substance and le...more
A very delightful approach to mathematics. It was lighthearted and touched on subjects that would interest most audiences. I think the statistical gambling section would be of particular interest to a few friends of mine and I will have to pass along at least these sections.
This strays so far from my normal read, but I found it very interesting, and Bellos' writing was engaging.
I've been spending the summer feeling like one of the teachers from Pink Floyd's The Wall, forcing my 12 year old to study Algebra in preparation for next school year. It's been shear hell for both of us. Neither of us likes math, but I'm a really stubborn woman & I've been seeking sources that will make math & algebra more accessible, more understandable, maybe even interesting. Who...more
I've been spending the summer feeling like one of the teachers from Pink Floyd's The Wall, forcing my 12 year old to study Algebra in preparation for next school year. It's been shear hell for both of us. Neither of us likes math, but I'm a really stubborn woman & I've been seeking sources that will make math & algebra more accessible, more understandable, maybe even interesting. Who...more
What a thoroughly fun book! Yes, I got the book because of the title. I figured anyone with a good sense of humor like that might do a reasonable job on a popular math book. It exceeded expectations!
Bellos does a lively romp through various everyday (and some not so everyday) things with little resort to heavy equations or other soporific or brain-wrenching stuff. He covers sudoku, magic squares, number sequences, the probability and statistics of gambling and betting systems, pi and transcenden...more
Bellos does a lively romp through various everyday (and some not so everyday) things with little resort to heavy equations or other soporific or brain-wrenching stuff. He covers sudoku, magic squares, number sequences, the probability and statistics of gambling and betting systems, pi and transcenden...more
Surprising, indeed! This book (and my puchase of it) is proof that a great title can sell a book. I'd never heard of the author. I'm not particularly interested in math, and have certainly never intentionally read over 300 pages about it. A month ago it would have been difficult for me to conceive of something so seemingly dull as a book about math.
But I loved this book!
Part of the appeal of the book is its author. I am convinced that Alex Bellos could make anything interesting. He is a gifted w...more
But I loved this book!
Part of the appeal of the book is its author. I am convinced that Alex Bellos could make anything interesting. He is a gifted w...more
I'm not a math person by any stretch of the imagination, but I found this book to be a lot of fun...until about halfway through when some of the math discussions started going way over my head (but that's my fault, not the author's). This is basically a book about the history of mathematical thought and Bellos does a good job of pulling it all together in an entertaining and informative way. We learn where numbers come from, how we went from counting sticks to written numbers, the invention of z...more
In Here's Looking at Euclid, Alex Bellos has written a funny, poignant, travelogue, expose on the compelling world of mathematics. He touches on a wide range of topics from the origins of counting to degrees of infinity with excursions through geometry, algebra, recreational math, probability, and statistics in between.
The book is quick paced and filled with fascinating little vignettes. However, the overall work is a bit disjointed. Although Bellos got a degree in mathematics and philosophy, he...more
The book is quick paced and filled with fascinating little vignettes. However, the overall work is a bit disjointed. Although Bellos got a degree in mathematics and philosophy, he...more
Essentially this is a book about maths, mathematicians and mathematical history and ideas, written by a non-mathematician for non-mathematicians. It is a fairly interesting read and generally the concepts are pretty well explained. In particular the history and development of ideas was something I knew comparatively little about and so found very interesting - this is not usually covered in school maths lessons. There are also some interesting sections on probability, gambling and statistics, al...more
This is a playful excursion into the world of mathematics, starting at tribes that do not utilize numbers higher than 5, and ending with infinity. Inbetween are fascinating math trivia, some profoundly counterintuitive (see how to make a harmonic series diverge, or how it's more likely than not give 23 people in a room that 2 people share a birthday, or how about Cantor's proof that some infinities are bigger than others). Bellos makes the topic accessible while sometimes sneaking in rather soph...more
I loved this book. If I had read it in high school, I would have been a much better student. So many things were made clear by Alex Bellos' talented writing. That said, there were definitely some concepts that stretched my brain to its limits - such as different sizes of infinity.
I especially enjoyed the historical progression of math and gained a deeper appreciation for the brilliance of the early Greeks, the Indians, and the Arabs, as well as the traditional cross-cultural heroes of math and...more
I especially enjoyed the historical progression of math and gained a deeper appreciation for the brilliance of the early Greeks, the Indians, and the Arabs, as well as the traditional cross-cultural heroes of math and...more
Excellent, approachable non-fiction writing which combines history of math with actual mathematical concepts. Bellos addresses a different mathematical concept in each chapter, telling about its discovery, explaining how it works, and making you laugh at the same time. He consulted a variety of experts, from a linguist who studies Amazon tribes that only have words for numbers up to 4, to a Hollywood numerologist, to the man with the most impressive slide rule collection in Britain. Although I h...more
The book consists of a series of not very closely related mathematical topics, lucidly presented. As such, it lends itself to occasional sampling rather than being read straight through. I myself read it a few pages at a time over a period of a month and a half.
It contains many interesting anecdotes, such as a chapter on a remarkable chimpanzee who can count up to nine and can identify the appropriate symbol for each of the first nine digits and put them in the correct order.
Evaluation: This is...more
It contains many interesting anecdotes, such as a chapter on a remarkable chimpanzee who can count up to nine and can identify the appropriate symbol for each of the first nine digits and put them in the correct order.
Evaluation: This is...more
This is a great book that delves into the fascinating history of math. Stops along the way include the advent of zero, the use of the abacus and the sliderule, the search for the trillionth decimal in pi, the Fibonacci sequence, the golden ratio, fractals, varying levels of infiniti, counting cards in blackjack, the definition of what's "normal", and straight lines that aren't straight.
Unlike some books that try to cover so many topics, Bellos goes into enough depth in each chapter to educate, e...more
Unlike some books that try to cover so many topics, Bellos goes into enough depth in each chapter to educate, e...more
Yes, I picked this up for the title. (I also blame a sibling with a degree in mathematics.)
A delightful romp through different fields of mathematics; each chapter stands alone, but I found the author's tone so engaging that I don't see why you'd skip parts of the book. Bellos manages to make his enthusiasm for the subject infectious, as all good teachers do, and thus the included equations aren't intimidating blobs of symbols, but rather illustrations and intriguing puzzles.
From the sociological...more
A delightful romp through different fields of mathematics; each chapter stands alone, but I found the author's tone so engaging that I don't see why you'd skip parts of the book. Bellos manages to make his enthusiasm for the subject infectious, as all good teachers do, and thus the included equations aren't intimidating blobs of symbols, but rather illustrations and intriguing puzzles.
From the sociological...more
I loved this book! It's a collection of insights into the world of math, from the history of the concept of zero (not as old as I thought!), to different ways of learning to "do" math (many more ways than I had thought, some of which I've started using), to a look into the depths of geometry, and so much more. I'm looking forward to reading this book again in the future, to pick up on the concepts I missed this go-around. For you parents and teachers out there, there are many concepts that could...more
Written as much for the closet math fan as the person who imagines he doesn't 'get' numbers, Here's Looking at Euclid exalts and explains its subject in equal measure. Not that much explanation is ever necessary, as this tour goes exclusively to mathematics' most scenic areas and stays away from the rough parts entirely. The author Alex Bellos is a amateur math enthusiast but a full-time journalist, and he includes as many visits to colorful people and exotic locations as he does to the blackboa...more
I found this book to be wonderfully interesting. Bellos is playful and conversational about these topics that many would certainly find dull and irrelevant. As a high school student, I've been practicing algebra, Euclidian Geometry and calculus for several years, and this book widened my horizons a great deal on all sorts of other areas of math that these courses don't focus on as much (and has improved my low expectations for statistics next year just a little). I especially enjoyed the discuss...more
In school, some parts of math were fascinating the me (algebra - everything balances!) and other not so much (geometry - boo for proofs). Bellos makes it all interesting by taking a very journalistic approach to the subject and is unafraid to gloss over some of the more eye-glazing parts. Covering everything from the cultural use of numbers (some cultures don't have numbers for anything over about 4) to zero to infinity.
Some interesting facts:
- We tend to see the world from the POV of a logarit...more
Some interesting facts:
- We tend to see the world from the POV of a logarit...more
Hunting around for the next book to listen to around the house I decided to go back to non-fiction and try and find a topic to expand my knowledge of a weak area. Maths certainly counts. I can get by, obviously, but I haven’t done things like quadratic equations since school, let alone probability, geometry or much else come to think of it.
Adventures in Numberland was a bit odd then, less a book exploring in greater depth the topics in includes, more a series of chapters like TV documentaries wh...more
Adventures in Numberland was a bit odd then, less a book exploring in greater depth the topics in includes, more a series of chapters like TV documentaries wh...more
May 30, 2012
Gerald Sinstadt
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction-general
Though far from being a senior wrangler, I hold my own at mathematics up to a point. So I embarked on Alex Bellos's journey with pleasure and, mostly, understanding. The South American tribe that had numbers for one, two and many was worth knowing about. The debunking of the horse that "could count" also. Eventually, though, I reached the point where I felt I needed to be a whole lot nearer to senior wranglership than I actually am.
Bellos remained entertaining but the numbers, and especially the...more
Bellos remained entertaining but the numbers, and especially the...more
Mathematics is either something you hate or something you love – there’s no middle ground about it. Alex Bellos takes us on a fascinating journey to explore the mathematics behind everyday phenomena and things we take for granted. He travels around the world to meet people who are still pushing the boundaries of our understanding of the subject. Along the way he serves us forgotten stories & anecdotes from the world of maths and shares his trove of mathematical treasures for us to enjoy. Thi...more
Surprisingly, for a book filled with equations and graphs, I found this difficult to put down. I'm not even especially fond of maths or numbers, but I nevertheless found this compelling reading. I think I got hooked with the story, in the opening chapter, of the Munduruku. The Munduruku are a tribe of Amazonian Indians whose language has no number bigger than five and even this is debatable – it might actually be four. The author went on to explore the evolution of counting and the need for a la...more
Alex Bellos è un giornalista del britannico Guardian, ma ha una laurea in matematica e informatica, almeno secondo quanto afferma lui stesso in questo libro. L'idea di base del libro è così quella di parlare di matematica come se si dovesse fare un report giornalistico. Indubbiamente, anche se il materiale è lo stesso che si trova in altri libri divulgativi, la presentazione è sicuramente diversa: la cosa può risultare interessante non solo per il lettore casuale che di queste cose non ne sa mol...more
Alex's Adventures in Numberland by Alex Bellos is an almost anthropological look at the world of numbers and mathematics. Exploring many of the mathematical concepts we today take for granted, such as the concept of zero and probability theory. Bellos has written an excellent introduction to number theory for the novice, a criticism though would be that the rabbit hole doesn't go deep enough, to borrow the word play of the title. Indeed this is an engaging work that whets the appetite and is an...more
While this book is mostly just a pop-math tour of inspirational "stuff" that never dives too deep, the author does manage to explain a few proofs (e.g. the diagonalisation argument) in a way that seems more accessible than I've heard before.
That could just be because I'm learning more myself, but I think it's more than that -- Bellos is actually a good *writer* for normal humans to read, which isn't usually something you find often when talking about mathematical proofs.
That could just be because I'm learning more myself, but I think it's more than that -- Bellos is actually a good *writer* for normal humans to read, which isn't usually something you find often when talking about mathematical proofs.
This is brain-food for those of us who enjoy popular maths and science books but aren't mathematicians or scientists. It's a book that you can pick up and put down as the structure is a loose ramble through maths history and random fascinating facts - and I mean random. The section on probability was great fun, analysing lotteries, slot machines and casinos, and I loved the practical intellect of Daina Taimina, who crocheted a representation of hyperbolic space.
I glazed over in some sections an...more
I glazed over in some sections an...more
With thanks from Santa-Patrick.
An excellent addition to my (or anyone's, really) math-bookcase. Some highlights include: Two shorthand techniques for multiplying 2-digit numbers, references to websites allowing you to search much of the identified-to-date digits of Pi for number strings significant to you, and of course a review of the variants of infinity. Some web-searches also led me to find the podcast of the BBC's (I know, I know)'Infinite Monkey Cage', where math, science and comedy meet.
An excellent addition to my (or anyone's, really) math-bookcase. Some highlights include: Two shorthand techniques for multiplying 2-digit numbers, references to websites allowing you to search much of the identified-to-date digits of Pi for number strings significant to you, and of course a review of the variants of infinity. Some web-searches also led me to find the podcast of the BBC's (I know, I know)'Infinite Monkey Cage', where math, science and comedy meet.
Spectacular! This book is a delight to anyone who loves number theory or wants a you through the wonderful world and history of mathematics. The story of how we've come to reason the way we do, the development of the backbone that knots together the sciences and hence our technological advancement, is a fundamental and fascinating thing, and Mr. Bellos does it justice with his clear, engaging explanations and knowledge of what to include. I'll be hoping for a follow-up.
Fun, insightful read about math, its history and development, and how it is treated and conceptualized about so differently by varying cultures. While someone who has nightmares about their high school math classes may shrink away from the book, they shouldn't. The math part is not overwhelming, and Bellos has an easy to read writing style that helps bring the knowledge of math down to earth, so to speak, and also takes the reader on cultural journeys. In addition, I thought the chapter on proba...more
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"I was born in Oxford and grew up in Edinburgh and Southampton. After studying mathematics and philosophy at university I joined the Evening Argus in Brighton as a trainee reporter. I joined the Guardian in 1994 as a reporter and in 1998 moved to Rio de Janeiro, where I spent five years as the paper’s South America correspondent. Since 2003 I have lived in London, as a freelance writer and broadca...more
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“Mathematicians have, according to Wright, been "unreasonably successful" in finding applications to apparently useless theorems, and often years after the theorems were first discovered.”
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Nov 08, 2011 05:48pm