Authors:
Written by the author of Mathematics 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 such as chance and probability, and codes and cryptography
Will appeal to readers across a range of abilities: the use of recreational puzzles and real-world examples both stimulate and entertain, while a final chapter provides the mathematical detail for those who would like to know more
Ideal background reading for high-school students interested in studying mathematics at university, and an invaluable source of material for school teachers and lecturers
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Table of contents (13 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
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 narrative that 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 are our 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 the story of numbers is a tale with a long way to run...
Reviews
From the reviews:
"The target reader of this book is a senior high school student. It is well suited to such an audience; indeed, it is exactly the sort of work I would myself have devoured some 50+ years ago. … The different topics treated are all described exactly and succinctly." (Michael A. B. Deakin, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2008 j)
“The author gives a history of the development of numbers including the natural numbers, the rational numbers, the real numbers and the complex numbers. The text is written at a level appropriate for any educated person. Throughout the text the reasons for the development of various numbers are given along with a historical view of the intuitive struggles with these new ideas.” (Steven T. Dougherty, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1188, 2010)
Authors and Affiliations
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Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
Peter M. Higgins
About the author
Peter Higgins is a Professor of Mathematics at Essex University and inventor of Circular Sudoku. His previous books on mathematics include Mathematics for the Curious, Mathematics for the Imagination, and Nets, Puzzles and Postmen: An Exploration of Mathematical Connections.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Number Story
Book Subtitle: From Counting to Cryptography
Authors: Peter M. Higgins
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84800-001-8
Publisher: Copernicus London
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, History (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer-Verlag London 2008
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-84800-000-1Published: 13 March 2008
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4471-6851-5Published: 23 August 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-1-84800-001-8Published: 01 January 2008
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XI, 323
Topics: Popular Science, general, Mathematics, general, Number Theory