Customer Reviews

Number Theory for Computing

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I just picked this monograph up at the Crypto-2000 conference at UCSB. It is an unassuming, straight forward walk through the elements of computational number theory. The author claims all that is required is high school math; however, once cracking the book open the reader finds that the material is more directed at the advanced undergraduate, or even the graduate math student, computer scientist, or to he/she who wants a singular experience in good mathematics. For example, there are side bars that touch on some of the very brightest of the number theory elite; providing much needed insight as to their motivations and pursuits of attack. Many a complicated concept is rendered harmless and fashioned readily available for the learned reader. It is the kind of book that you can not put down. I passed it around to a few of my colleaques; the book quickly became a pleasent read for them followed up by a request to forward the ISBN number to their email accounts. The author knows the crafts of both writing well and displaying the beauty of number theory. Lastly, the technical content is not watered down, the author maintains academic discipline while making anecdotal information available via side-bars. Otherwise, the inspired reader would have to track down a text on the history of mathematics to sort out the 'story' behind the insights. Instead it is "all" there for you to consider or mark for a later read.