Customer Reviews

Mathematical Mysteries: The Beauty and Magic of Numbers (Helix Books)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Imagine a book that takes you by the hand and leads you through the intricate and exotic world of mathematics, and does require that you know advanced mathematics. THIS IS THAT BOOK! Written in a clear, almost conversational style, this book is a wonderful choice for readers from all types of mathematical backgrounds. Even those who only had high school algebra can read and UNDERSTAND the mathematics presented in this book. It takes the seemingly separate and distinct pieces from different areas of math and ties them together into a nice, clean book. Moreover, you won't spend weeks reading this. It's reads easily, and takes about a week to complete. Chapter by chapter or skipping around, everyone is bound to get something out of this one!

Clawson does an excellent job of introducing the reader to a variety of number theory topics. With each topic, he provides enough information to understand the idea and appreciate its implications without being overly technical or tedious. Suprisingly, an advanced understanding of math is not required to enjoy this book. If you have an interst in number theory and need a starting point, this is the book.

Clawson writes with refreshing enthusiasm and really conveys how much fun it can be to explore the nature of mathematics. Although there are many equations in the book, Clawson uses them not only to help the readers understand the mathematical ideas, but also to show how truly great mathematicians can come up with extremely elegant expressions to describe what at first would seem to be completely unmanageable concepts.

This book is a gentle introduction to number theory. The material covered here is absolutely fascinating. Once you get into the text you will be hooked. Although I have read other stuff in this genre what is different about this book is that the author does not shun from giving you equations that explain the IDEA and BEAUTY behind the numbers.

This book will give you hours of absolute delight. Excellent work.

This book is superbly written by a highly intuitive author. The author knows how to connect to his intended readers. Book is highly informative and the equations are well defined and explained. Once you read a few pages, you are hooked. I just hope that Mr. Calvin C. Clawson will write more books on Mathematics, he will be doing a great service to would-be-mathematicians like me. More power to you sir!

I was a student of Mr. Clawson's, and highly recommend any student of his to use this book as a study guide.

You refer to the number 7 as having a special significance. I believe that in the ancient times referred to, the nunber 7 was used to signify a very large number. It is referred to in both the old and new testaments. i think Jesus refers to 7 and 7 times 70 when referring to how often we must forgive someone - meaning we must forgive a lot