Customer Reviews

The Mystery of Numbers (Oxford Paperbacks)

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

 

 

This is a rather odd but very enjoyable book. It begins with a very brief introduction to different number systems and beliefs about numbers, covering the Pythagoreans, gnosticism, the Cabala, Islamic mysticism, medieval numerology and numerical puzzles. The bulk of the book is a kind of encyclopedia of numbers: each of the numbers up to 21 gets its own chapter; after that they are dealt with "en masse".

Each chapter is an unordered and unstructured compilation of beliefs about the subject number, mostly drawn from Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Unfortunately, there is no attempt at cross-cultural comparative analysis or at relating beliefs about numbers to other symbolic systems.

This book might better serve as a reference rather than a complete read. It is very interesting but might be too much for one reading.

What are the roots of the divine "Trinity" concept or what is the secret meaning of Buddha's 3 bodies? Why was Amon-Ra called "The Lord of 4 directions" or why had the god Shiva 4 arms? What is the significance of number 5 in pentagram? Why the star of Israel had six corners? How come the number 13 is believed to bring bad luck in some traditions while in Mayan culture it is one of the essential numbers? Annemarie Schimmel, a specialist on Eastern philosophies, presents a very interesting and entertaining anthology of mysterious numbers in "The Mystery of Numbers". The book follows a linear path and begins with "Number 1" and passes several "stations" of curious numbers along the way. It also has an introduction that gives a summary about the numbering systems of various cultures. You can either keep it on your bookshelf to consult for some specific numbers from time to time, or you can carry it in your pocket and have your daily fun.

I liked that this book reviewed a variety of cultures with the historical significance of numbers. It was useful for me in writing a paper on cultural uses of numbers.

This book is to this date the best book that I have ever read on the subject. It deals with a subject matter that is at once simple and at once infinite- a subject that is unambiguous and clear and at the same time infinitely convoluted- always incomplete, yet perfect by necessity.

In a word, numbers.

I picked up this book in the math section of a local used book store. I was excited by the cover title at first, "The Mystery of Numbers", and so I picked it up and flipped through it. I quickly realized that this book was substantive in information as well as artistic in detail. This book has some sketches especially of things like the Mayan calendar and things of the like. I had to buy the book because mathematical history, theory and mysticism was something that I was just beginning to fancy an interest for.

In any event, I began to read the book and was just impressed. This book is written not only with the vocabulary and descriptive detail and accuracy of an expert- this book is ful of beautiful linguistic novelty.

Annemarie does a brilliant job covering the bases and wowing the reader. Did you know that any multiple of the number 9 can be added within it's self to give you 9! For example..

9x5 = 45---- 4 + 5=9!

9x3 = 27 --- 2 + 7 = 9!

9X10 = 90 ---- 9 + 0 = 9!

One of the few examples I can find to the contrary is 11 x 9 = 99.

This kind of stuff in conjunction with a history of civilizations and religions and the significance of numbers to them is what this book is about. It is not a pseudo-sceince book by any means, claiming any diety or aline race is certainly behind numerical mysticism. This book is a wonderful book written by a scholar from Harvard who very sadly just passed away. I was going to send her an emial and congradualte her on the book but, I was just a little too late.

Do yourself a favor and make sure you read this "1."

This book is a must for anyone who is interested in the meaning of numbers. Since number is an archetype of the physical world, it has many meanings and mysteries. Annemarie Schimmel has provided us with her extensive exploration of the many meanings of numbers. I highly recommend this book.

For those of you who are searching for an explanation for all existence, this book is the one, since mathematics is the universal language.This book helps to find patterns of phenomonah such as things that occur by certain number. With this book and a tad of imagination, one can see "how it all is" and go in further pursuit of the truth. This book feeds that intense curiousity of those who are searching. Enjoy........

This book provides deep insights in the nature of numbers... but number 23 is completely omitted from the book without the slightest explanation.

There are figures that appear in philosophy, religion, stories, poems and local customs that embody more than their numerical significance, and they are thus referred to as "mysterious" or "magical" figures or formulae. Most of these figures are odd numbers, and a few are the sum or multiples of "mysterious" numbers. For example, the number 13 is considered of special significance by the Han and Tibetan ethnic groups.
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THE FIGURE 13 IN CHINA AND THE WEST.
¡¡ In some Western nations the number 13 is regarded as unlucky. In the Netherlands, for example, it is difficult to find a house numbered 13, and in theaters in the United Kingdom and the United States there are no rows or seats numbered 13. When it is necessary to have 13, "2A" is often used as a substitute. People often avoid going out on the 13th of the month and never have 13 people seated for supper. The Tibetans, however, regard the number 13 as holy. According to King Gesar, the world's longest epic, when Gesar was born he held 13 flowers in his hands, walked 13 steps and vowed to become a Buddha at 13. Indeed, when he was 13, he was victorious in a horse race, married and became king of the state of Ling. Also according to King Gesar, Gesar had 13 concubines and 13 Buddhist guardians, and in the state of Ling under his rule there were 13 snowy mountains, 13 mountain ridges, and 13 lakes.

Numbers known today developed by Aryabhatta, Brahmagupta and Bhaskara of India and spread around the world by Arab traders and mathematicians. Aryabhatta developed the number system and Brahmagupta added zero and deveeloped addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. This method was known in medieval Europe as "Modus Indoram" or method of the Indians. Originally our numbers were known as Arabic numbers and today Hindu-Arabic numbers is widely used. Anyone who is interested in the development of the modern number system should read Smith and Karpinski's Hindu Arabic numerals available in Google books for free.
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