Customer Reviews

Numerology: Or, What Pythagoras Wrought (Spectrum)

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Dudley Underwood's book attempts to debunk both New Age and quasi-Christian use of numerology. He succeeds to an amazing degree.

Particularly good is his treatment of 666 (the mysterious number of the Beast in Rev. 13:18, which in league with most biblical scholars, I believe had meaning for the original readers of 1900 years ago). Professor Underwood shows that 666 is no more of a threat to us than 13, broken mirrors, or black cats.

This book is not for the mathematically uninitiated, however. Underwood writes as if he assumes all his readers know more about math than Isaac Newton and Plato combined. If you can get past the esoterica, you'll enjoy this book. . . and maybe be saved from the crackpot sheisters too.

Contrary to the opinions of many misguided souls, numbers do not have personalities. In yet another of his excellent attempts to overcome silliness in the name of mathematics, Underwood Dudley presents a reasonably strong case against numerology. The problem is that the case is strong only if you are reasonable. I applaud him for pointing out the absurdity of numerology, although few minds will be changed as a consequence of reading this book.