Customer Reviews

Prime Curios!: The Dictionary of Prime Number Trivia

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

 

 

Caldwell and Honaker have gathered the curiosity of the small prime numbers in an easily accessible form like no others before them. One of the lasting benefits of this book will be from those that are inspired to look into the deep rich beauty of prime numbers. I highly recommend consuming the contents of this book as part of a healthy diet of mathematics.

You likely trip over primes every day without realizing it. Contrary to prime folklore, primes are not mysterious or unfathomable. There they are: 1 (Yes, 1 was a prime once, but has fallen from grace), 2 the only even prime, 3, 5, 7, 11, . . . . A prime occurs when no preceding number can be divided into it (without a remainder of course). No one could write down every prime in a book, because there is always another one. Primes are fascinating and interesting once you get to know a few -- and that is why this book was compiled from the wit and wisdom of prime addicts the world around. The primes don't require it, but you can get downright superstitious about them -- for example, as a math teacher I left home for my first class at exactly 7:11, and left school for home at precisely 3:13 -- lots of primes in that one, 3, 13, 31, and 313 itself, all primes, not to mention that 3+1+3=7. Donald Duck loved the number and put it on his auto as his license plate number. Therefore, we prime addicts call it the "Number of the Duck" and it is worshipped in some places. Some primes can be turned upside down, reversed, taken apart, put back together, and even bent (see Carlos Rivera's The Prime Puzzles & Problems Connection), and also check out Neil Sloane's On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences: search on Primes. G. L. Honaker Jr. introduced me to all of this and ruined my life -- even forced me to writing a book about primes. Get a life and look at Prime Curios! the book, but since everything isn't in a book, look also for Prime Curios! on the Net. Although it is legendary that G. H. Hardy didn't care for anything useful in math, prime numbers are quite useful: when conversation turns dull, or the party weakens, begin talking about prime numbers and watch the eyes glaze over! And if you want to start an argument, just insist that 1 is prime! and I do! Everyone important will go home and you can get to bed.

This book will surprise and astound you. It is a collection of facts, some relevant, some tangentially associated with particular prime numbers. It is a perfect filler for idle minutes as each prime number is presented separately. One could say the book is not dense, but is a compact cover. It will appeal to a wide age range. Some of the information is so esoteric as to delight the simulacra of Euler still on the quest for the holy grail of mathematics.

I like some of the trivia in this book, but a lot of primes with not much to recommend them were included. In many cases the trivia provided seems like filler meant to simply increase the size of the book. In other cases the trivia provided is way too abstruse for the general reader.

I think this book could be greatly improved by being slimmed down and sold for $ 9.95 or less. I would never pay the list price again.
I think the idea behind the book is a good one, but 2.5 stars is the highest I can rate it.