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A History of Pi (Paperback)

~ (Author) "A million years or so have passed since the tool-wielding animal called man made its appearance on this planet..." (more)
Key Phrases: Middle Ages, Roman Empire, Royal Society (more...)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
List Price: $14.95
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o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
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  Hardcover, May 31, 1990 -- $3.00 $0.01
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A History of Pi + An Imaginary Tale: The Story of "i" [the square root of minus one] + "e": The Story of a Number (Princeton Science Library)
Price For All Three: $33.23

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  • This item: A History of Pi by Petr Beckmann

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A pure delight . . . Entirely offbeat, which gives it its charm." --The Denver Post "A very readable account." --Science "A cheerful work." --Scientific American -- Review


Review

"A pure delight . . . Entirely offbeat, which gives it its charm." --The Denver Post

"A very readable account." --Science

"A cheerful work." --Scientific American
See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Paperback: 208 pages
  • Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 3rd edition edition (July 15, 1976)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0312381859
  • ISBN-13: 978-0312381851
  • Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #19,178 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

    #2 in  Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Mathematics > Pure Mathematics > Number Theory
    #2 in  Books > Science > Mathematics > Pure Mathematics > Number Theory

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More About the Author

Petr Beckmann
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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First Sentence:
A million years or so have passed since the tool-wielding animal called man made its appearance on this planet. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Middle Ages, Roman Empire, Royal Society, University of Alexandria, Galileo Galilei, Library of Alexandria, Old Testament, Carl Friedrich Gauss, Christiaan Huygens, Johann Dase, Johann Kepler, Julius Caesar, Leonardo da Vinci, New York, State of Indiana, Bishop of Yucatan, Gerolamo Cardano, Jean Bernoulli, John Machin, John Wallis, Pope Sylvester, Posey County, Punic Wars, Roman Law, The Beast
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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A History of Pi
58% buy the item featured on this page:
A History of Pi 3.7 out of 5 stars (60)
$10.17
"e": The Story of a Number (Princeton Science Library)
12% buy
"e": The Story of a Number (Princeton Science Library) 4.4 out of 5 stars (58)
$10.85
Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea
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Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea 3.9 out of 5 stars (142)
$9.75
An Imaginary Tale: The Story of "i" [the square root of minus one]
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An Imaginary Tale: The Story of "i" [the square root of minus one] 3.9 out of 5 stars (51)
$12.21
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Customer Reviews

60 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (60 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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56 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An analysis of the history of science via the example of Pi, May 2, 2002
By Uri Raz (Israel) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This book is not about Pi per se - it is a book about the history of mathematics, especially western math, with lots of opinions by the author, built around the example of Pi.

Readers who are interested in Pi would be disappointed, as they would expect a lot more material about Pi. I can see how the name of the book would mislead the buyers of this book in this way.

As a book about the history of math, I think it is a very good book - it covers the time span from the greeks to the modern era, focusing on western civilization (e.g. the far and middle east are mentioned very little), with chapters about the heavy weight mathematicians of the time. The author makes his opinions clearly and at some length, and I think he got quite a few good points.

The math is a bit difficult for a popular science book, and I get the impression the author just threw in a bit of math just as illustrations to main theme of the history of math and not in order to give the reader some insights and in-depth understanding.

So, if you want a book about the history of math in the west with the author's opinions and commentary, I recommend this book to you. But if you want a book about Pi, by all means skip this book.

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47 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Historiographical Rant + Dense Geometric Proofs = 3.14159..., December 10, 1999
By Jon McAuliffe (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
The thematic dissonance Dr. Beckmann serves up in this ostensible history of science treatise starts off very amusing, grows annoying towards the middle and ends up with you shopping for some other book on pi. As I finished the first chapter, I began to wonder whether other readers had noticed the bait-and-switch: a manuscript with seemingly scholarly intentions had been shanghaied by a cranky technocrat into service for a diatribe against everything from Aristotle to fascism.

The real let-down came several chapters further on. I largely agree with the political and historiographical assessments Dr. Beckmann preaches in his book: yes, Aristotle was a scientific dullard now lauded by posterity; yes, the Romans were mathematical morons who didn't even understand the hydrodynamics of their own aqueducts; yes, National Socialism was bad. I'll even concede that Dr. Beckmann's sardonic prose sometimes made the ubiquitous tangents an entertaining diversion. Still and all, what about pi? This is by far the tersest mathematical presentation of difficult ideas I have ever seen in a popular science text. Some of the explanations about mathematical reasoning are positively opaque --- but by the end you're grateful when there's any explanation at all.

I have to entertain the uncomfortable possibility that Dr. Beckmann omitted a thorough discussion of the technical points so that he could cram the proofs as well as his ideological agenda into a fixed number of words.

"A History of Pi", to give due credit, does touch on the major historical events in the study of this beautiful number (as long as you're prepared to forgive the limited coverage of computational developments, given the book's age). If an ad hoc mixture of political commentary, historical revisionism and dense geometric reasoning is what you're in the mood for, you've picked a winner. Otherwise you ought to look elsewhere. I learned much more about the history and role of pi from "E: The Story of a Number", by Eli Maor, than I did from "A History of Pi".

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27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An antidote to today's hyper-sensitive history, March 21, 2000
By A Customer
My kind of book: A seemingly mundane subject that packs a punch. Those expecting an exhaustive mathematical treatise should remember that this is a HISTORY of pi, including the events and people that colored it. Beckmann is opinionated, and thankfully so! History is a story composed of characters that either advance or impede human progress, and Beckmann shines the spotlight on both, heaping scorn and reverence without regard to who's ox is being gored. In the process, he manages to annoy all the right groups (organized religion, fascists, communists) making him unpopular with some, but rare is the factual rebuttal to any of his charges. Indeed, the primary complaint seems not to be that he's wrong but that he's particularly unforgiving of history's morons. There's enough conceptual math and intriguing history to please both mathematicians and historians, particularly those tired of the politically correct drivel that so permeates popular science today. A truly great read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars The Most Inept Would-Be-Historian I've Ever Read.
In his preface to " A History of Pi", Petr Beckmann says sarcastically, "Being neither an historian nor a mathematician, I felt eminently qualified to write" a history of pi... Read more
Published 5 months ago by mirasreviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding
This book is a quick read brilliantly written focusing on the history of  with respect to the civilizations and mathematicians that advanced it. I consider it a must read.
Published 5 months ago by Russ

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic.
The other reviewers ... all the way from 1-star to 5-star provide enough material to allow you to make your decision, whether it's worth your valuable time to read it... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Bruce Oksol

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but highly idiosyncratic
This is an interesting but highly idiosyncratic book. The author covers the history of Pi from prehistoric times to the computer age. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Solomon

3.0 out of 5 stars A History of Pi
Though it may often seem otherwise, pi was not invented for the antagonization of high school youth. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Nino Brown

4.0 out of 5 stars A History of Pi Review
I find the book to be an interesting and detailed read. I'm a mathematics major, however, I feel that my sister who hates mathematics could follow and possibly even enjoy... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Joseph E. Hoffman IV

2.0 out of 5 stars Beckmann -- Yet Another Professor Making UC Boulder Look Bad
Beckmann, a former professor at UC Boulder, should've known better. Of course, what should we expect from someone who spent most of his life trying to debunk the theory of... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Randy J. Robinson

1.0 out of 5 stars Missed the subject
"Missed the subject"

Although I am not a teacher, this is what I would have expected for grading, had I written anything to the subject at hand, and delivered this... Read more
Published 17 months ago by M. Daiber

3.0 out of 5 stars Political commentary disguised as math history
Despite its title, A History of Pi recounts more than the evolution of a geometric constant. In this case, moving beyond the core topic of the book turns out to be a bad thing... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Darryl Melander

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, Where It Sticks To The Topic
First, let me say that this book is a good overview of a persistent mathematical problem; in this case, deriving the value of "pi," or the ratio between the diameter and... Read more
Published on September 6, 2007 by D. J. Halnon

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