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"e": The Story of a Number (Princeton Science Library)
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$ 12.44
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| Item Number |
555294 |
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Item Description...
The interest earned on a bank account, the arrangement of seeds in a sunflower, and the shape of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis are all intimately connected with the mysterious number e. In this informal and engaging history, Eli Maor portrays the curious characters and the elegant mathematics that lie behind the number. Designed for a reader with only a modest background in mathematics, this biography of e brings out that number's central importance in mathematics and illuminates a golden era in the age of science. |
Item Specifications...
Pages 227
Dimensions: Length: 0.5" Width: 6" Height: 9.5"
Weight: 0.8 lbs.
Binding Softcover
Release Date Feb 8, 2009
ISBN 0691141347
EAN 9780691141343
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Availability 50 units.
Availability accurate as of May 24, 2012 05:19.
Usually ships within one to two business days from Momence, IL.
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Reviews - What do our customers think?
 | joy to read, crystal clear explanations Feb 25, 2009 |
The book is a gem in that it explains the somewhat difficult concepts of differential equations, logarithms and differentiation in very crisp, very easy to understand manner, but the best part is that it shows different angles and perspective of the same concepts. If you didn't get something in first several chapters you'll understand it in the next.
It takes a great teacher to write a book on essential calculus that is so easy to read. I am looking forward to reading other titles by Eli.
| | | | e++ taught well Dec 21, 2008 |
I find the history of mathematics fascinating and essential to the understanding of world history. And "e: The Story of a Number", does a great job of presenting the history of "e" in a very enjoyable manner.
Unfortunately however, math is mostly taught, for expediency, as a set of rules without historical context, which I believe in the long run tends to retard the learning process and the depth of understanding necessary as a foundation for further study.
"e: The Story of a Number", should be considered essential reading for students at the junior high school level as a way to show connectivity of the subjects of history, science, mathematics, music and the arts. The book brings these subjects together in a compact way that virtually transports one back in time to observe the masters at work; their personalities and relationships with their peers. I was fascinated from chapter 1 as I read about John Napier lifetime work of computing logarithmic tables; imagining the strength of the underlying motivation for his work in that time, I might have been a better student myself.
Finally, the mathematics behind the discoveries of the numbers in Euler's famous formula, e^ipie + 1 = 0 are clearly brought into focus in a manner that is easy for the layman to follow. Thank you Mr. Eli Maor!
I strongly recommend this book. | | | | The story of e is is a history of mathematics Dec 16, 2008 |
Over the centuries, the irrational number pi has received an enormous amount of interest, largely because it is the easiest transcendental number to understand. While they often cannot understand the reasons why pi is irrational, even schoolchildren can use it with ease. The definition is easy and a circle is one of the first shapes children learn.
That is not the case with the base of the natural logarithms or e. Knowledge of a good deal of higher-level mathematics is a precondition to understanding the definition of e and it did not appear in mathematics until much later than pi. Defined as the limit of an infinite sequence, e is one of the most useful numbers in engineering.
This book is a somewhat wayward look at the historical and intellectual background of the development of the number e. Given that calculus is required to appreciate the value of the number and that it is the base of the natural logarithms, the historical figures in the story of e are the giants of the development of calculus and logarithms. Therefore, a large portion of the book deals with the development of these two very significant areas of mathematics.
The best and most useful mathematical ideas are often those with an extensive history of development and e certainly falls into this category. This book could serve as a popular history of the number e as well as a background primer for courses in the history of mathematics. For the history of e is largely a history of mathematics.
| | | | Fabulous book, but there is an important error Oct 19, 2008 |
This is a wonderful book, but there is an error in a crucial explanation on page 66. This has to do with the calculation of the area under the curve y=1/x. The error is that the height of the curve at position a is not (1/a) as stated in the book, but is (1/ar). Therefore, the common areas are not 1-r, but ((1-r)/r). Same observation holds, though, namely that the areas defined by geometrically decreasing widths have equal areas, and hence a log must be involved.
An alternative correction is to leave the algebra, but change the diagram so that the rectangles are under the curve, in which case everything works out as written.
Nevertheless, I highly recommend this book to anyone who is trying to grasp the "meaning" of e. | | | | Very entertaining Jun 13, 2008 |
| Anyone who enjoys somewhat light (but meaningful) mathematical reading would likely appreciate this wonderfully woven tale of e. The focus is on developing an intuitive appreciation for e as it relates to various aspects of mathematics. A modest knowledge of differential and integral calculus would help, though it is not essential. It is very engaging. No story about e would be complete without Euler's identity -- which relates the five most important mathematical constants: e, pi, i, 0, and 1 -- but for good measure Maor has tossed in the golden ratio as well when describing the logarithmic spiral -- as if nature itself has validated our understanding of e with a compelling artistic design that presents itself in verious natural forms. This book is one of my favorites. | | | Write your own review about "e": The Story of a Number (Princeton Science Library)
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