The Loom Of God (Hardcover)

by Clifford A. Pickover (Author) "The year is 2080 and you are Chief Historian of an intergalactic museum floating in outer space..." (more)
Key Phrases: electronic fly, amicable numbers, hexagonal numbers, Ramon Lull, Mon Dieu, Temple of Apollo (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The Loom of God takes an entertaining, indeed playful, look at numbers and mathematical patterns and the mystical properties that have often been ascribed to them. Clifford Pickover takes you on a romp through numerological history, introducing both its characters (such as the great mathematician Pythagoras) and its concepts: triangle numbers, "perfect" numbers, Fibonnaci numbers, and more. Pickover describes how ancient--and sometimes no-so-ancient--cultures and religions interpreted the significance of various numbers; he examines the geometry of Stonehenge and considers the probability of earth's annihilation by collision with an asteroid. While many authors could chronicle the history of mathematics and its relationship with mysticism and religion, few could do it with the verve and flair that Pickover manages.

Product Description

From the mysterious cult of Pythagoras, to the awesome mechanics of Stonehenge, to the fearsome "gargoyles" and glorious fractals created on the computer screens of today, Pickover evokes the power of numbers and their connection with the search for the ultimate meaning of the universe. We learn that individuals through the ages have conjured numbers to predict the end of the world, to raise the dead, to find love, and to sway the outcome of wars. Even today, Pickover shows, serious mathematicians sometimes resort to mystical or religious reasoning when trying to convey the power of mathematics. Together we uncover mathematics in the most exquisite forms of nature - from the delicate shape of a spider web, to the curling spiral of a shell. We discover fractals in the branching patterns of blood vessels, plants, and mountain roots. And we grasp the power of a few simple concepts - including the gravitational constant and the speed of light - that control the destiny of the universe. Prepare yourself for a strange and often amusing journey. Let The Loom of God unlock the doors of your imagination through thought-provoking mysteries, puzzles, and problems on topics ranging from ancient Greek astronomy to Armageddon. A playground for computer hobbyists, an inspiring tome for science fiction aficionados, and an adventurous education for the curious in theology, astronomy, mathematics, and history, this book delivers a world of paradox and mystery. The Loom of God promises a creative, enticing, and unforgettable excursion along the vast tapestry, woven through history, of mathematics and the divine.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (June 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306454114
• ISBN-13: 978-0306454110
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 7.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #893,160 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Math made fun, non-fiction and fiction in one, June 21, 1998

By A Customer

The author has done a wonderful job in taking math and making it interesting. By weaving non-fiction and fiction into one coherent story, Pickover has been able to take math and give it a life of its own. Certainly a good addition to any mathematicians library, but an even better addition to everybody's library because everybody can understand it!

16 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Loom of God is a rich source for bored programmers, August 11, 1998

By A Customer

If you've gotten bored of hunting the wumpus, check out The Loom of God. It covers vast mathematical areas, many of which make excellent computer programs. One intriguing concept presented was that of "sociable numbers." That is, numbers A, B, C, D, E (or more) for which the factors of A add up to B, the factors of B add up to C, and so one, until the factors of E add up to A. As you might imagine, the search for sociable numbers requires either VERY powerful computers, or VERY innovative algorithms... none of which are discussed in the book. It does however, provide an excellent introduction this and many other mathematical topics.

Entertaining bored programmers is not, of course, the primary focus of the book, but it alone makes the book worth buying.

5.0 out of 5 stars Mathematics as the loom upon which God weaves reality, December 8, 2008

By	Steve Reina (Troy Michigan) - See all my reviews

First off, I'm a big Clifford Pickover fan.

There isn't a single entry in his catelogue in which he fails to be anything but the most ardent of cheerleaders for the importance of mathematics to science and understanding reality. And though geeky it's a happily catagious kind of geekiness.

And secondly, this book strong where its underlying mathematical applications are strong and conversely weak where they're weak.

Here are some for instances...

This book is strong in its description of highly relevant mathematics like fractals. Fractals are mathematical algorithms which can render self repeating geometrical shapes like the leaves of a fern which kind of mimic the larger structure with each offshoot.

It turns out that fractals are highly relevant not only understanding botanical life but also have applications in animal life as well where both the lung and the brain are fractal like in nature.

For his part, Pickover even notes that fractals possess interesting musical qualities. When used as a drumhead they produce a more subdued tone than the standard rounded drumheads otherwise used by musicians...a factor that may also augur their usefulness.

Also fractals can be used metaphorically lilke when Isaac Asimov said: "I believe knowledge is fractal in nature. No matter how much we understand, whatever remains, no matter how seemingly small, is infinitely complex."

However, the mathematics can be weak like in Pickover's discussion of so called perfect numbers. They're called perfect because of certain self repeating and self referential qualities they are considered to possess.

In this case, aside from its curiosity value, the mathematics seem to have no other application.

Likewise, numbers that can be either added or multiplied to produce the same result would be another instance of where the mathematics seems to have only a curiostiy value.

However...and this is a big however...we have to be tentative in making value assignments to a field of mathematical application. In the early 19th century, Herman Reimann may have been told that his mathematics had only curiosity value until it came to play a pivatol role in Einstein's general theory of relativity.

Even allowing all that, though, it would seem that much of this book, at least for the present possesses mere curiosity value but that being said this book is still good reading and highly recommended.

Of course, no review of this book would be complete without at least some note of Godel's theoretical proof of the existence of God. Reduced to a mathematical treatment the proof essentially restates an earlier proof of God offered by St. Thomas Aquinas. In his Sumna Theoligica, Aquinas essentially argued that all perfect things which can exist must exist and therefore, being inifinitely perfect, God must possess the more perfect attribute of perfection of existence over non existence.

For my part, I liked the commentaries that Pickover included from other modern mathematicians which noted that Godel's proof could just as consistently be turned on its head to prove that God doesn't exist...dependingly on how one defined their terms.

For my part, the whole discussion best pointed out the idea that while mathematics is a great tool to aid us in understanding reality, our ability to make certain faith assignments (like whether we believe God exists or whether we believe in the afterlife or whether we believe in multiple universes past this one) all reside in a territory that is beyond of the realm of mathematics and purely in the arena of faith alone.

In this way, the Godel discussion, which closes out the book by the way (it's his first and most thought provoking appendix), Pickover puts the loom of God question on its head. While it may be true that mathematics is the loom upon which God weaves reality, it may also be said that human faith is the loom upon which God himself is weaved.