From Zero to Infinity
What Makes Numbers Interesting

From Zero to Infinity: What Makes Numbers Interesting by Constance Reid
Price: $19.95
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Summary

From Zero to Infinity is a combination of number lore, number history, and sparkling descriptions of the simply stated but exceedingly difficult problems posed by the most ordinary numbers that first appeared in 1955 and has been kept in print continuously ever since. With the fifth edition this classic has been updated to report on advances in number theory over the last 50 years, including the proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem. Deceptively simple in style and structure, it is a book to which the reader will return again and again, gaining greater understanding and satisfaction with each reading.

Details

ISBN: 978-1-56881-273-1
Year: 2006
Format: Paperback
Pages: 208

Reviews

Internationale Mathematische Nachrichten (in German)

December 2007

“Wenn ein Buch nach 50 Jahren in fünften Auflage erscheint, so spricht vieles für seine Qualität. Tatsächlich ist es spannend zu lesen, und über weite Strecken reichen schulische Mathematikkenntnisse aus Der Inhalt wurde inzwishen erweitert und vor allem, was die Suche nach großen Primzahlen betrifft, ergänzt. Es handelt sich um eine geschickt formulierte Mischung aus der Geschichte der Mathematik und einer Einführung in mathematisches Denken. Ein Beispiel genüge: Im Kapitel Eight wird die Zahl 8 als 8 = 2 ° 2 ° 2 eingeführt und dann auf die Darstellung der Kuben als Summe aufeinanderfolgender ungerader Zahlen hingewiesen, die auf Nikomachos zurüchgeht. Aber letztlich landet man beim Waringschen Problem und seiner Geschichte.”
—F. Schweiger

Notices of the AMS (PDF)

February 2007

“Upon reading this edition anew, I was struck by its superb mathematical taste.”

“I knew I was meant to spend my life loving numbers and working with them; From Zero to Infinity crucially told me that there was a large community of People of Number I could hope to join when I grew up… . As I got older, I continued to read From Zero to Infinity and the other influential math books I knew; … I was truly fortunate to have run across From Zero to Infinity when I did.”

Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School (PDF)

February 2007

“This book should be in the library of every mathematics teacher, and university faculty who prepare students to teach mathematics should also own this book. ”

L'Enseignement Mathématique

January 2006

“From Zero to Infinity is a combination of number lore, number theory, and sparkling descriptions of the simply stated but exceedingly difficult problems posed by the most ordinary numbers, that first appeared in 1955 and has been kept in print continuously ever since. With the fifth edition this classic has been updated to report on advances in number theory over the last 50 years, including the proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem. Deceptively simple in style and structure, it is a book to which the reader will return again and again, gaining greater understanding and satisfaction with each reading.”

November 2005

“From Zero To Infinity is a sequence of rare beauty, a drama built out of nothing but numbers—and imagination.”
—Freeman Dyson

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