The Book of Numbers

by Bentley, Peter J.,

• ISBN13: 9781554073610
• ISBN10: 1554073618
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-02-15
• Publisher: Firefly Books Ltd

Summary

Unraveling the secrets of numbers, from the discovery of zero to infinity.In clear language, The Book of Numbers cuts through the mystery and fear surrounding numbers to reveal their fascinating nature and roles in architecture, quantum mechanics, computer technology, biology, commerce, philosophy, art, music, religion and more. Indeed, numbers are part of every discipline in the sciences and the arts.With 350 illustrations, including diagrams, photographs and computer imagery, the book chronicles the centuries-long search for the meaning of numbers by famous and lesser-known mathematicians, and explains the puzzling aspects of the mathematical world. Topics include: The earliest ideas of numbers and counting Patterns, logic, calculating Natural, perfect, amicable and prime numbers Numerology, the power of numbers, superstition The computer, the Enigma Code Infinity, the speed of light, relativity Complex numbers The Big Bang and Chaos theories The Philosopher's Stone.The Book of Numbers shows enthusiastically that numbers are neither boring nor dull but rather involve intriguing connections, rivalries, secret documents and even mysterious deaths.

Author Biography

Peter J. Bentley is a senior research fellow and professor at the Department of Computer Science, University College London, and is well known for his prolific research covering all aspects of evolutionary computation and digital biology. He is the author of the popular science book Digital Biology and a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4.

Table of Contents

Before the Beginning

Much Ado About Nothing

Writing Numbers

Speaking Numbers

The Invention of Nothing The Year Zero?

Small is Beautiful

Rational Numbers An Important Period Thinking Small

All is One Natural Numbers

Perfect Numbers

Amicable Numbers

Prime Numbers

Secure Primes Fractionally One

Murdering Irrationals

Being Irrational

Measuring the World

Moving the World with Numbers

When Is a Number not a Number

An Equation Paints a Thousand Words

Lost in the Margins

Golden Phi Seriously, Rabbits?

Out of this World Don't Be Absurd

Good and Even There Are 10 Types of People in the World: Those Who Understand Binary and Those Who Don't Weaving Patterns of Numbers

Thinking Logically Knocking Down the Foundations of Mathematics

It Does Not Compute Designing Computer Architectures

Creating the Information Revolution

The Greatest Invention Calculating Without Calculators Natural Curves Pebbles and Fluxions

The Eternal Triangle Placing Rubber Bands Crossing Bridges Wormholes of Paper Colorful Maps

A Slice of Pi Making a Circle How to Make a Pi Measuring Angles Surfing Sine Waves Pendulums and Heresy

Decimalization Weird Counting At the Third Stroke, the Time Will Be 86 Past 5 Precisely Sacred Tetractys and Triangles

Triskaidekaphobia Be Careful What You Believe Mathematics of Luck Finding Meaning with Numbers

As Fast As You Can Go Seeing c Seeing Is Not the Same as Hearing Special Relativity General Relativity

The Neverending Story The Beginning of Forever Wheels Within Wheels Meeting the Infinite

Unimaginable Complexity

Using Your Imagination

Drawing on Imagination

Turning Dreams into Reality (or Reality into Dreams?)

Complex Visions

All is Numbers

Bibliography

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

Chapter -1: Before the BeginningNumbers flow past us like a blizzard, wherever we are on the planet. We drive in rivers of numbers. We listen to numbers on headphones. We wear changing numbers on our wrists. We live in numbers, talk in numbers and watch numbers for entertainment. Numbers rule our lives, they wake us up, tell us where to go, how to get there and when to leave. Numbers are judges of all, they assess and compare with complete authority and impartiality. But numbers also lie; they may mean anything except the truth. Numbers can save our lives, and a love of the wrong kind of numbers can ruin us. Numbers can be our friends, our lifelines and our lucky charms. Numbers can also kill us. You are made of numbers. So am I.Thousands of years ago, when there was no difference between science and religion, numbers seemed to hold the key to understanding the universe. They might not have trickled down in front of our eyes like a scene from The Matrix, but lurking inside many forms were important numbers that seemed too common to be coincidental. The same ratios kept reappearing in nature, perhaps between the diameter of a circle and its circumference, or in the curvature of seashells. The same geometric shapes and the numbers embedded within them kept being discovered in unlikely places, such as the spacing of the planets of our solar system. Even something as unlikely as a speed -- for example the speed of light -- seemed to be at the heart of the construction of our universe. In those days it was widely believed that such numbers pointed to the mysterious underlying design of God. An understanding of those numbers would be like reading divine messages written into the fabric of existence. Those pioneers and adventurers who dared to explore the uncharted territories of numbers were exploring the very substance of their world. They were unpicking the details of life, the universe and everything. Their solutions were not a single number, but a whole collection of important numbers, as well as tools to manipulate those numbers.Today, science has taken over from religion. We still believe that our universe has hugely important numbers associated with it. We now know that they are the patterns visible in the woven tapestry from which everything is made. Some patterns in the tapestry are made from such thick threads that they catch the eye immediately: numbers such as , e and . Some form the bulk of the material: numbers like 0, 1, 2, 3 and 2. Some stand out like accidental spills on the fabric, such as 10 and 13. Other numbers and concepts, like c and , point to the size and shape of the tapestry. Some, such as i, are only visible as tenuous ripples of complexity that flow through the cloth.Those who explore the fundamental truths of nature are now known by names such as mathematicians, astronomers and physicists. But however we label them, these people were (and still are) explorers. They did not weave the tapestry they examined. They did not invent their numbers or mathematical ideas as a novelist might invent a story. They searched for the truth, and tried to explain it, inventing new languages of numbers simply to be able to write down their discoveries. Some pursued this goal for science, some for religion and some for fameThe explorers we will follow in this book were very clever and many have been called geniuses -- but they were people too. They had complicated lives, had arguments, failings and successes. Galileo was a medical school dropout, Newton threatened to burn down his parents' house, Bernoulli stole his son's work, Pascal was a bully and Einstein had a child out of wedlock. Some were murdered because of numbers. Others lost their sanity. Put them all. in a room together and you'd probably be deafened by the shouting. But they all had an appreciation of n