- ISBN13: 9780691141343
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product 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.Amazon.com Review
Until about 1975, logarithms were every scientist’s best friend. They were the basis of the slide rule that was the totemic wand of the trade, listed in huge books consul… More >>
“e”: The Story of a Number
I was looking for a book to tell me everything about e. If this book does so, then the story of e is not all that intersting, and you are likely to know a lot of it if you have taken some calculus or real analysis courses. Not all that much info about e, a lot of blah blah, and a lot of stuff not really about e (whole chapters) I wouldn’t recommend it to a friend. Rating: 2 / 5
Maor wanders aimlessly, padding his essay with trivial sidetrips and attempts at spice. His imaginary conversation between Bach and Bernoulli is completely inaccurate regarding musical scales and just intonation. This book tries to approach Beckmann’s _A History of Pi_ in its erudition, but it fails because it lacks the eloquence, elegance, and breadth that characterize the best popular books on mathematics. Rating: 1 / 5
This is by far the BEST book that I have read about math. It definitely helped me to understand some of the important concepts in applied math and electrical engineering fields. I’d strongly recommend this book! Rating: 5 / 5
This book is a great book for people interested in math history Rating: 5 / 5
I couldn’t pass up commenting on this beautiful book by Maor. This is one of those books that belongs in everyone’s library. It is about e, a favorite number for every mathematician, but it is also about much more. Good work, Maor. Rating: 5 / 5