Numbers have fascinated people for centuries. They are familiar to everyone, forming a central pillar of our understanding of the world, yet the number system was not presented to us ‘gift-wrapped’ but, rather, was developed over millennia. Peter Higgins distills centuries of work into one delightful narrativethat celebrates the mystery of numbers and explains how different kinds of numbers arose and why they are useful. Full of historical snippets and interesting examples, the book ranges from simple number puzzles and magic tricks, to showing how ideas about numbers relate to real-world problems, such as: How areour bank account details kept secure when shopping over the internet? What are the chances of winning at Russian roulette; or of being dealt a flush in a poker hand? As our understanding of numbers continues to evolve, this book invites us to rediscover the mystery and beauty of numbers and reminds us that thestory of numbers is a tale with a long way to run... Written by the author ofMathematics for the Curious and Mathematics for the Imagination and inventor of Circular Sudoku An accessible look at the history and development of numbers written in an easy-to-read style, covering topics from popular subjects suchas chance and probability, and codes and cryptography INDICE: Preface.- The First Numbers.- Discovering Numbers.- Some Number Tricks.- Some Tricky Numbers.- Some Useful Numbers.- One the Trail of New Numbers.- Glimpses of Infinity.- Applications of Number Chance.- The Complex Historyof the Imaginary.- From Imaginary to Complex.- The Number Line Under the Miscroscope.- Applications of Number: Codes and Public Key Cryptography.- For Connoisseurs.- Index.
- ISBN: 978-1-84800-000-1
- Editorial: Springer
- Encuadernacion: Cartoné
- Páginas: 324
- Fecha Publicación: 01/03/2008
- Nº Volúmenes: 1
- Idioma: Inglés