Number 9: The Search for the Sigma Code [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)

by Cecil Balmond (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Literary craze for maths and maps"

The Search for the Sigma Code has a dense plot and relies on another imaginary narrator (not a monk this time, but) a boy called Enjil. If you have ever wondered why any prime number is greater than three will, when raised to the sixth power, leave a remainder of one when divided by nine, you will be at home with this book. -- Vanessa Thorpe, The Independent On Sunday - 13 September 1998

"Literary craze for maths and maps" by Vanessa Thorpe. The Search for the Sigma Code has a dense plot and relies on another imaginary narrator (not a monk this time, but) a boy called Enjil. If you have ever wondered why any prime number is greater than three will, when raised to the sixth power, leave a remainder of one when divided by nine, you will be at home with this book. -- The Independent On Sunday - 13 September 1998

As the tale of Enjil's search unfolds, so the use of the Sigma Code unlocks a hidden code beneath numbers, with startling results.

Diagrams, many beautiful and intricate, are used to demonstrate even more dramatically the nature of numbers, much like people, Enjil argues, numbers have a secret nature. Underneath a mantra turns. Hidden by all the permutations of arithmetic the numbers of the code spin quietly, orbiting in a concealed universe.

And like every good mystery, this book is impossible to put down until the riddle has been solved, a solution which is perhaps more of a beginning than an end.

Highly recommended. -- Andrea Beddard - September 1998

Cecil Balmond's mediation on the number 9 is an enchanting tale that reveals a mystery at the center of unexpected arithmetic operations. In a world in which the mathematical has long since stopped being a simple symbol of cosmic order to become synonymous with the prosaic and instrumental, Balmond's work discloses the resonance of abstract, formal revelations with human truths. Number 9 is a work of pataphysical numerology that recovers the potential of numbers to be truly significant. -- Dr Alberto Perez- Gomez, Professor History of Architecture, McGill University

What do the following Architects, and their projects, have in common? The late Jim Stirling, Rem Koolhaas, Enrico Miralles, Ratael Money, Daniel Liebeskind, Ben van Berkel and Alvaro Siza? The answer is that they all called Cecil Balmond of Ove Arup & Partners in London - the author of this book... He is a latterday alchemist of shape, making anything the Architect desires appear, like a puff of smoke, from his algorithmic crucible.

Balmond canonises the compulsion to err, first proposed by Robert Venturi as the 'difficult whole'. He sanctifies with the benison of Number, laying them impartially upon one and all. His book is the tip of the iceberg (or maybe volcano is a truer metaphor) of his knowledge. It will undoubtedly be dangerous for Architects to read, for it will encourage them to believe that any form will do. John Outram is an Architect. -- John Outram for the Royal Institute of British Architects Journal

Product Description
In "Nine Fixed Points in the Wind", internationally renowned structural engineer Cecil Balmond travels into a semi-mystical world to unlock a secret of numbers that has never been told. Through the eyes of Enjil, the boy mathematician, he re-examines the arithmetic of his childhood and discovers behind it a remarkable new mathematical structure that we can all appreciate -yet that will intrigue scientists and mathematicians. The worlds of Enjil and that of the reader travel in parallel. As Enjil is challenged by a spirit to solve the riddle, "What is the fixed point of the wind?", the reader is introduced to strange coincidences in the world of numbers that appear to be predescribed in myth, legend and religion across the world's history. The key seems to be the number nine. On a journey of discovery, Enjil leads us deeper into an inner world in search of the solution. It describes a form - at first linear - then circular - until finally a beautifully spiralling mandala is revealed that links all the coincidences in a single structure and opens a gateway to discoveries beyond. Cecil Balmond is a man at the top of his profession making the most flamboyant ideas of the leading avant garde architects work. His research into form provokes new possibilities in architecture. Through his profession, he has gained a remarkable perception that is uniquely attuned to understanding the structures required within buildings at the cutting edge of contemporary architecture. Recently he chanced to rethink the arithmetic we all use. The results will delight all of us who remember struggling to learn our tables by rote. It is a new theorem of hidden numbers - but it is so simple.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: Prestel; illustrated edition edition (July 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3791319337
• ISBN-13: 978-3791319339
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 4.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #953,304 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to read this book, February 9, 2004

By	Srikaran Rajasingam (UK) - See all my reviews

I would just like to respond to Flavio's review. As a physicist, I drew the same kinds of mathematical conclusions he did when he read the book. I do not, however, feel that this is the point. Whether 9 comes out in the decimal system or 7 comes out in the octal system is irrelevant. "No 9" remains a beautifully written piece of literature that expresses author's fascination with numbers and geometry. Sure, you can find rigourous mathematical proofs why '9' must come out. I have worked it out myself, and I don't disagree. However, there are many scientific phenomena (rainbows, fractals etc.) that are no less beautiful despite being taken apart, analysed, and understood.
Number 9 is a captivating, well written and beautiful book that was a pleasure to read. The reader is drawn in by the author's fascination with the subject, and kept there by the author's storytelling skill.
I recommend it.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, December 8, 2000

By A Customer

It captured the spiritual as well as the mathematical. A wonderful little read - for those who have an interest in what lies beyond numbers. A most unusual, charming book. Would certainly recommend it.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Unusual Book!, November 17, 2000

By	"susanandrews" (New Haven, CT) - See all my reviews

This book is one of the most unusual I've come across in quite some time. Blending elements of number theory, history, philosophy and mysticism, Cecil Balmond creates a book unique in its renaissance approach to life. Certainly, if you're looking for a book on academic number theory (see above review), this isn't the book for you, but if you want an fascinating exploration of the implications of the seemingly mundane existance of number, then by all means buy this book immediately. The passion Mr. Balmond has for his topic is clear on every page, as is his vast learning and quick mind. Written for anyone who was every curious about the nature of things in the world will be enriched by this little book.