Number, the language of science: A critical survey written for the cultured non-mathematician

by Tobias Dantzig

"Number is an open doorway into the world of math. Tobias Dantzig explains the foundations of mathematics with ease, and eloquently explores deeper philosophical questions that arise along the way. He describes the properties of all kinds of numbers - integers, primes, irrationals, transcendentals, and more. He explains the significance of zero, and shows that its invention has revolutionary consequences for arithmetic. He shows how the invention of symbols for use in algebra - a radical departure from tradition at the time - ushered in a new era of math; how arithmetic and geometry reflect each other; and how calculus uses infinity to model the continuity of space and time." With a new afterword, notes section, and bibliography written by math professor and author Joseph Mazur, and a new foreword by mathematician Barry Mazur, the Masterpiece Science edition of Number - which was first published in 1930 - is the first update of Dantzig's classic work in over fifty years. It is a story that ranges from the dawn of man to the genius of history's greatest mathematicians, vividly revealing how the pursuit of knowledge transcends the rise and fall of civilizations.

340 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1959

About the author

Tobias Dantzig (February 19, 1884 – August 9, 1956) was a mathematician of Baltic German and Russian American heritage, the father of George Dantzig, and the author of Number: The Language of Science (A critical survey written for the cultured non-mathematician) (1930) and Aspects of Science (New York, Macmillan, 1937).