The Book of Numbers Corrected Edition



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"...a delightful look at numbers and their roles in everything from language to flowers to the imagination." -SCIENCE NEWS
"...a fun and fascinating tour of numerical topics and concepts. It will have readers contemplating ideas they might never have thought were understandable or even possible." -WISCONSIN BOOKWATCH
"This popularization of number theory looks like another classic." -LIBRARY JOURNAL
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- The Symmetries of ThingsJohn H. Conway,John Horton Conway,Chaim Goodman-Strauss,Heidi Burgiel,Hardcover
Editorial Reviews
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From Library Journal
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
From the reviews:
"This is a really fascinating book either to read or to browse in, or for reference - there is a good index, and I can strongly recommend it - it should be in every school and college library!" The Mathematical Gazette
"… A delightful look at numbers and their roles in everything from language to flowers to the imagination." Science News
"… The great feature of the book is that anyone can read it without excessive head scratching … You'll find plenty here to keep you occupied, amused, and informed. Buy, dip in, wallow." New Scientist
From the Back Cover
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Copernicus; Corrected edition (March 16, 1995)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 319 pages
- ISBN-10 : 038797993X
- ISBN-13 : 978-0387979939
- Item Weight : 1.57 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.14 x 0.75 x 9.21 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #509,274 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #65 in Number Systems (Books)
- #147 in Number Theory (Books)
- #1,085 in Probability & Statistics (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2019
Top reviews from the United States
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My surprise is this book is using a low quality cover named Tape Bound, a low price type of cover. Is there any difference? yes! the future of the book is compromised, because this case can break due the lack of flexibility. On the other side, this low quality case do not have a good affordance, as for example, to read the book while standing up.
Quality of paper for the pages of the book is compromised too: the current edition is using traditional photocopy paper bound that affects the resolution and quality of letters, while the original/traditional editions in public and private libraries are in high quality paper.
I feel like I received a copy of a book made in illegal places for photocopies. I feel I do not received and original copy.
I attached a photo of the original binding compared with the binding this seller send to me.

Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2019
My surprise is this book is using a low quality cover named Tape Bound, a low price type of cover. Is there any difference? yes! the future of the book is compromised, because this case can break due the lack of flexibility. On the other side, this low quality case do not have a good affordance, as for example, to read the book while standing up.
Quality of paper for the pages of the book is compromised too: the current edition is using traditional photocopy paper bound that affects the resolution and quality of letters, while the original/traditional editions in public and private libraries are in high quality paper.
I feel like I received a copy of a book made in illegal places for photocopies. I feel I do not received and original copy.
I attached a photo of the original binding compared with the binding this seller send to me.

After the first two or three chapters, the book does seem rushed and there is much that I could not follow. I was especially frustrated by the method used to count the number of regions determined by the diagonals of a polynomial. It looks like a simple and original treatment of a classical problem, but after several attempts I just can't follow the logic.
Next, they move into squares, triangular numbers, and many others with rich geometric meanings. Chapters 1 and 2, especially, create vivid images that bring many of their concepts to life. I had a bit of trouble finding ch.3's focus. It touches briefly combinatorics, a world in itself, and difference techniques. I found "Jackson's Fan" fascinating, but too terse for easy application to real problems. After this, the going gets a lot tougher, fast.
By ch 4, "Famous Families," the illustration is no longer as vivid as before. Ch. 6, on fractions and decimal expansions also held some interest - it touches on complexity in the decimal forms of fractions, and the numeric roots from which it springs. The section on continued fractions is only just enough to titillate without really enlightening. Discussion of imaginary numbers is OK, and offers some enjoyable insights. The section on quaternions, though, does a lot less to invite personal involvement and stir the imagination. Later sections of the book present readable surveys of their topics, but require a lot more form the reader in the way of determination and mathematical background.
If the whole book sustained the initial energy, it would have been an instant classic. The later parts of the book were clear, readable, and even enjoyable, but didn't match the breadth or vividness of the first half. I enjoyed this, but I may not come back to it.
//wiredweird
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Über Primzahlen steht viel mehr drinnen. Es ist eine Perle der Mathematik, die Pflicht sein sollte für Schüler, und die in einer Sammlung von Mathematikbüchern nicht fehlen sollte.
Leicht verdaulicher Stoff, für denjenigen, der sich der Mathematik nicht versperrt.

