The Secret Lives of Numbers

Kate Kitagawa, Timothy Revell

A Global History of Mathematics & its Unsung Trailblazers

399 Kč

DMOC: 499 Kč

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A revisionist, completely accessible and radically inclusive history of maths

'Lively, satisfying, good at explaining difficult concepts' The Sunday Times

Mathematics shapes almost everything we do. But despite its reputation as the study of fundamental truths, the stories we have been told about it are wrong. In The Secret Lives of Numbers, historian Kate Kitagawa and journalist Timothy Revell introduce readers to the mathematical boundary-smashers who have been erased by history because of their race, gender or nationality.

From the brilliant Arabic scholars of the ninth-century House of Wisdom, and the pioneering African American mathematicians of the twentieth century, to the 'lady computers' around the world who revolutionised our knowledge of the night sky, we meet these fascinating trailblazers and see how they contributed to our global knowledge today.

Along the way, the mathematics itself is explained extremely clearly, for example, calculus is described using the authors' home baking, as they pose the question: how much cake is in our cake? This revisionist, completely accessible and radically inclusive history of mathematics is as entertaining as it is important.

Review

Kitagawa and Revell are good at explaining difficult concepts . . . Secret Lives is at its most satisfying when it balances the connection between the complex maths, the lives of mathematicians and the impact their work has had on the real world . . . Modern technology is built on the work of those who pursued maths for maths' sake. This book is a clever tribute to those brilliant, if sometimes erratic, lives -- Tom Calver ― The Sunday Times

A delightful journey through some of the lesser known highways and byways of mathematics that brings to the fore many fascinating figures who have been unjustly forgotten. A treasury of lost historical tales where you can find the story of a Keralan mathematician who might have discovered calculus centuries before Newton and Leibniz or the eleventh-century Chinese origins of binary in the I Ching -- Ananyo Bhattacharya, author of The Man from the Future

About the Author

Dr Kate Kitagawa is one of the world's leading experts on the history of mathematics. She earned a PhD from Princeton University, taught history at Harvard University and conducted research in the UK, Germany and South Africa. Her first book was a national bestseller in Japan, and she has been named one of the 100 most influential people in Japan by Nikkei Business. She is currently Director of the Space Education Office at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Dr Timothy Revell is a journalist and lapsed mathematician. He is currently the Deputy US Editor for New Scientist and is based in New York. As a reporter and editor, he specialises in technology and mathematics, covering everything from artificial intelligence to the Abel prize. He appears regularly on WNYC's Science Friday, as well as on other podcasts and radio to talk about the latest developments in science. He has a master's degree in mathematics and a Ph.D. in computer science. His first book was Man vs. Maths.

Podrobnosti

Autor	Kate Kitagawa Timothy Revell
Vydavatel	Viking
Jazyk	anglicky
Vazba	měkká
Počet stran	320
Formát	15,2 × 23,2 cm
EAN	9780241544129
Rok vydání	2023
Edice	Historie Příroda a přírodní vědy