Customer Reviews

The Kingdom of Infinite Number: A Field Guide

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The presentation of the kingdom of numbers as a field guide is a very clever idea. The book is visually engaging, giving numbers the "personality" that I'm sure experienced number theorists feel. It is clear that an enormous amount of effort has gone into the production of this book, and the result is enormously interesting.

Unfortunately, not nearly as much effort went into the editing of the text. Numerous errors exist that exhibit carelessness on the part of the author and irresponsibility on the part of the editor(s). The book claims that 2 is a perfect square and that 1 is one order of magnitude larger than 0. Several more mathematical falsehoods and sloppy errors are in the book that will not fit in this review. Two or three mistakes might be attrubuted to typographical errors, but my list reached 15, and I make no claim that this list is complete. Hopefully this book will be more carefully edited before it goes to paperback, because it is a fine book, aside from its errors.

Not since the great Indian mathematician Srinivasi Ramanujan has anyone gotten so involved in the personality of numbers to the extent as which Bryan Bunch has, and the reader is far better off for it. The classic story about Ramanujan and the personality of numbers is the tale about the number 1729. When he was ill in a hospital in England he was paid a visit by his friend and colleague G. H. Hardy, who had been given a ride in a taxicab bearing that number. Upon greeting Ramanujan, Hardy remarked that 1729 seemed like an exceedingly dull number and he hoped that this would not be taken as a bad omen. Ramanujan immediately answered: "No, no, my friend, on the contrary; it is a very interesting number. It is the smallest number that can be formed by adding two cubes together in two different ways!"

Such is the involvement of author Bryan Bunch with the personaliy of numbers. His tales of whole numbers from one to googolplex, fractions, algebraic, transcendental and imaginary numbers is sure to entertain and inform any reader with an interest in the world of numbers. His work is such that there is no such thing as an uninteresting number. To prove that there can be no such thing as an uninteresting number, consder the following: 'One' is interesting because it is considered neither prime nor composite; 'two' is ineresting because it is the only even prime number; 'three' is the smallest odd prime number; 'four' is the smallest even number to be a square; 'five'is a Fermat prime; 'six' is the smallest perfect number;...until the first 'uninteresting' number is reached. The fact that it is the first uninteresting number immediately makes it interesting!

Despite a few minor errors and the November 14 discovery of the primality of 2^13446917-1 (replacing 2^6972593-1 as the largest known prime number), I still believe that this book would be of great interest to any reader with an interest in numbers.

1729 = 1^3 + 12^3 = 9^3 + 10^3, in case you are interested in the Ramanujan story.

Not since the great Indian mathematician Srinivasi Ramanujan has anyone gotten so involved in the personality of numbers to the extent as which Bryan Bunch has, and the reader is far better off for it. The classic story about Ramanujan and the personality of numbers is the tale about the number 1729. When he was ill in a hospital in England he was paid a visit by his friend and colleague G. H. Hardy, who had been given a ride in a taxicab bearing that number. Upon greeting Ramanujan, Hardy remarked that 1729 seemed like an exceedingly dull number and he hoped that this would not be taken as a bad omen. Ramanujan immediately answered: "No, no, my friend, on the contrary; it is a very interesting number. It is the smallest number that can be formed by adding two cubes together in two different ways!"

Such is the involvement of author Bryan Bunch with the personaliy of numbers. His tales of whole numbers from one to googolplex, fractions, algebraic, transcendental and imaginary numbers is sure to entertain and inform any reader with an interest in the world of numbers. His work is such that there is no such thing as an uninteresting number. To prove that there can be no such thing as an uninteresting number, consder the following: 'One' is interesting because it is considered neither prime nor composite; 'two' is ineresting because it is the only even prime number; 'three' is the smallest odd prime number; 'four' is the smallest even number to be a square; 'five'is a Fermat prime; 'six' is the smallest perfect number;...until the first 'uninteresting' number is reached. The fact that it is the first uninteresting number immediately makes it interesting!

Despite a few minor errors and the November 14 discovery of the primality of 2^13446917-1 (replacing 2^6972593-1 as the largest known prime number), I still believe that this book would be of great interest to any reader with an interest in numbers.

1729 = 1^3 + 12^3 = 9^3 + 10^3, in case you are interested in the Ramanujan story.

Kingdom of Infinite Number reads like a field guide in providing an in-depth examination of individual numbers and the properties which make them unique. Math patterns and relationships are the focus of a title which profiles dozens of numbers and surveys their 'personalities' and unique characteristics.

This is a fascinating book that gives one a tour of numbers, their properties, idiosyncracies and uses in quick computation etc. Having each number somewhat independent from one another you can read any chapter at random and gain quite a bit. The text does require concentration to fully appreciate the ideas. Also I found that having a notepad and pencil proves quite handy. In some cases I had to read certain paragraphs twice to fully understand the material.

There is one drawback that I just cannot overlook. The editing is substandard. Granted a typo here and there can be forgiven but it appears that in this case the number of errors is quite significant. Hence the four star rating.

However, if you like numbers and their properties this is a good book to have by one's bedside to read a chapter or two daily.

Just under 400 pages this gem of a book is packed with mathematical wonders. As the introduction notes "The intent of this field guide is to aid the reader in indentifying numbers in their native habitats.......the experienced numberwatcher learns to find the hidden secrets of numbers, to clasify a number instantly, and to use number relationships to enhance the enjoyment of mathematics as well as to solve problems."

And wisely the author notes that often all it takes to be a good number watcher is simply alterness and a basic awareness of the numbers in our lives. And this is so true. Since as the author continues to share, people who see numbers as a game, often are very quick to catch an error on a sales slip, checkbook, bank statement etc.

I loved the numbers games and trivia the author used that both reminded me of the trivia questions we all had in school but the math games our family played and plays while on various trips.

Like the question of the mountain bike which costs $900 including tax and interest. The buyers first payment is 25% of the cost and she pays the remainder of the costs in 15 equal monthly payments. How many dollars is one monthly payment?

The Chapters are equally interesting in their Titles. Like GENUS natural (counting numbers) Genera Integral and Rational (Signed numbers and fractions) Genus Real (Number-Line numbers) Genus Complex (all inclusive numbers) Kingdom infinity etc.

I wish my keyboard was more complex because I could tease you with other teasers he has, but if you have kids or you yourself love numbers buy this book and I promise you that you will be picking it up because it is so full of fun facts and teasers that it is like a good potato chip, you can't just read and try to figure out just one. And if math scares the willies out of you, but the book and learn to have fun with numbers.

The answer is $45

As someone who struggled with math all through grade school, college and grad school, but who somehow still finds numbers fascinating, I found this a great read. I learned more about mathematics and how it is relevant to just about every aspect of life than I ever learned from a "teacher". In the innocence of my educated ignorance I enjoyed the book. Alas, had I known of all the egregious errors found by another reviewer, I'm sure I would have kept reading it so I could carp about it. Let's just hope I don't pass on this new misinformation to my children.

This is a tremendous book. If you have mathematically-inclined kids, it opens up the world of numbers in a way that shows them some of the pure joy in the subject. While a lot of effort has gone into linking ideas together, you can open this book at any page and have some fun.

For anyone who likes numbers, this book is a delight. Open it at random and find some fascinating treasure. Great for kids who are starting to reach out.

I think this book has something for just about everyone. It's a great read, and it's not dumbed down.