The Secret Life of Numbers: 50 Easy Pieces on How Mathematicians Work and Think [Hardcover]

George G. Szpiro (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 2006

Most of us picture mathematicians laboring before a chalkboard, scribbling numbers and obscure symbols as they mutter unintelligibly. This lighthearted (but realistic) sneak-peak into the everyday world of mathematicians turns that stereotype on its head. Most people have little idea what mathematicians do or how they think. It's often difficult to see how their seemingly arcane and esoteric work applies to our own everyday lives. But mathematics also holds a special allure for many people. We are drawn to its inherent beauty and fascinated by its complexity - but often intimidated by its presumed difficulty. "The Secret Life of Numbers" opens our eyes to the joys of mathematics, introducing us to the charming, often whimsical side, of the discipline. Divided into several parts, the book looks at interesting and largely unknown historical tidbits, introduces the larger than - life practitioners of mathematics through the ages, profiles some of the most significant unsolved conjectures, and describes problems and puzzles that have already been solved. Rounding out the table of contents is a host of mathematical miscellany - all of which add up to 50 fun, sometimes cheeky, short takes on the field. Chock full of stories, anecdotes, and entertaining vignettes, "The Secret Life of Numbers" shows us how mathematics really does affect almost every aspect of life - from the law to geography, elections to botany - and we come to appreciate the delight and gratification that mathematics holds for all of us.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The 50 chapters in this light, occasionally amusing book by Swiss science journalist Szpiro (Kepler's Conjecture) range from two to six pages and include very little mathematics. They cover a wide range of topics, from profiles of famous mathematicians—Daniel Bernoulli, John von Neumann and Niels Henrik Abel, for example—to a superficial discussion of some unproven mathematical conjectures. Szpiro also touches on game theory, Bible codes, the game of Tetris, Isaac Newton's prediction of the end of the world, and the need for insurance. Although mathematics, at some level, is associated with each topic, rarely is it made central, so little holds the book together. Nonetheless, individual chapters are engaging. One on proportional representation (in Congress, for example) documents the surprising fact that a state's representation might increase as its percentage of the total population decreases. Another explains the ways our calendars have been adjusted to compensate for the fact that "the time between two spring equinoxes is... 365.242199 days, which in turn equals nearly, but not exactly, 365.25 days." The discrepancy causes a host of temporal problems. Many of the chapters have appeared previously in the Swiss newspaper Neue Zurcher Zeitung, which accounts for their abbreviated style and, perhaps, their repetitiveness. (Mar.)
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Book Description

Most of us picture mathematicians laboring before a chalkboard, scribbling numbers and obscure symbols as they mutter unintelligibly. This lighthearted (but realistic) sneak-peak into the everyday world of mathematicians turns that stereotype on its head.Most people have little idea what mathematicians do or how they think. It’s often difficult to see how their seemingly arcane and esoteric work applies to our own everyday lives. But mathematics also holds a special allure for many people. We are drawn to its inherent beauty and fascinated by its complexity—but often intimidated by its presumed difficulty. The Secret Life of Numbers opens our eyes to the joys of mathematics, introducing us to the charming, often whimsical side, of the discipline. Divided into several parts, the book looks at interesting and largely unknown historical tidbits, introduces the largerthan- life practitioners of mathematics through the ages, profiles some of the most significant unsolved conjectures, and describes problems and puzzles that have already been solved. Rounding out the table of contents is a host of mathematical miscellany—all of which add up to 50 fun, sometimes cheeky, shorttakes on the field. Chock full of stories, anecdotes, and entertaining vignettes, The Secret Life of Numbers shows us how mathematics really does affect almost every aspect of life—from the law to geography, elections to botany—and we come to appreciate the delight and gratification that mathematics holds for all of us.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Joseph Henry Press; 1st edition (March 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0309096588
• ISBN-13: 978-0309096584
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #994,760 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Short Articles that Cover the Gamut of Mathematics, September 28, 2006

By 

Timothy Haugh (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Secret Life of Numbers: 50 Easy Pieces on How Mathematicians Work and Think (Hardcover)

As a mathematician and teacher, I'm always checking out popular books on math. This book, The Secret Life of Numbers, is subtitled "50 easy pieces on how mathematicians work and think." What we find inside is, in fact, fifty short articles (usually around three or so pages each) which cover a variety of topics from history to breakthroughs to personalities to applications.

There are a number of things to like about this book. I particularly appreciated the fact that Mr. Szpiro attempted to keep us up to date on what is going on in math right now. In math classes, there is a tendency to focus on the far past for achievements in mathematics which distances people today from what is going on.

On the other hand, I did think that the pieces were not as "easy" as advertised. Certainly, a background in math helps to understand what Mr. Szpiro is talking about. I think the fact that these articles are so short is part of the problem. Though brief, they sometimes have an expectation of a certain amount of previous knowledge which makes them less useful for people whose mathematical knowledge might be sketchy.

Still, this is a nice book to dip into from time to time. Though not the type of book I would read straight through, there are plenty of articles here to spark an interest in math and illustrate why math is so important, even for us today.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars masterpiece of accessible math popularization, March 19, 2006

By 

D Zeilberger (Princeton, NJ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Secret Life of Numbers: 50 Easy Pieces on How Mathematicians Work and Think (Hardcover)

These are the kind of articles I wish the NY Times Science section would have, but it rarely has any math. Swiss-German people
are lucky to be able to enjoy these journalistic light yet
often profound "easy" pieces, and now they are all available
in beautiful English prose! Perfect present to the math-lover
as well as the math-hater, and of course the math-indifferent.
In other words, to everyone.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Provides a fine survey of the processes of mathematical questioning., November 5, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secret Life of Numbers: 50 Easy Pieces on How Mathematicians Work and Think (Hardcover)

How does math research apply to everyday life, and what is the history and process of the math discipline as a whole? The Secret Life of Numbers: 50 Easy Pieces on How Mathematicians Work and Think covers the daily work of the math world, from developing theories and testing logic to unsolved problems and individuals whose applications contributed to solutions. Using case histories as foundations, THE SECRET LIFE OF NUMBERS provides a fine survey of the processes of mathematical questioning.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch