The Art of the Infinite: The Pleasures of Mathematics - Softcover

Kaplan, Robert; Kaplan, Ellen

3.8

220 ratings by Goodreads

9781608198696: The Art of the Infinite: The Pleasures of Mathematics

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1608198693 ISBN 13: 9781608198696

Publisher: Bloomsbury Press, 2014

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The Art of the Infinite takes infinity, in its countless guises, as a touchstone for understanding mathematical thinking. Robert and Ellen Kaplan guide us through the “Republic of Numbers,” where we meet both its upstanding citizens and its more shadowy dwellers; and transport us across the plane of geometry into the unlikely realm where parallel lines meet. The journey is enriched by deft character studies of great mathematicians (and equally colorful lesser ones). And as we go deeper into infinity, we explore the most profound mystery of mathematics: Are its principles eternal truths that we discover? Or ones that we invent?

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About the Author:

Robert and Ellen Kaplan have taught subjects ranging from Sanskrit through mathematics to philosophy and history, and founded The Math Circle in 1994. Robert Kaplan is the author of the bestselling The Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero. Ellen Kaplan is coauthor, with their son Michael, of Chances Are . . . and Bozo Sapiens, written with their son Michael. Together, Robert and Ellen are the authors of Out of the Labyrinth. Their website is www.themathcircle.org.

Review:

"Robert and Ellen Kaplan clearly relish the chance to expound the beauty of their subject, in prose that performs some glorious turns. They mix weighty but approachable maths with imagery and allusion, beginning with number and heading persuasively into the unknown. As the awesome presence of those infinite infinities finally takes hold, the mind reels and hairs stand on end. This is mathematics for the soul--just the way it should be."--New Scientist

"Anyone interested in a serious introduction to mathematics will delight in this volume. The Kaplans' background in languages and linguistics inclines them to a depth of literary allusion that few writers in any technical field can match. Robert Kaplan's prior book, 'The Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero,' remains, for my money, the best popular mathematics book ever written."--Margaret Wertheim, Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Guides the reader through some extremely difficult mathematical ideas in ways that are both imaginative and diverting. Mathematics is often said to be the science of the infinite; the Kaplans want us to appreciate mathematics as the art of the infinite, an art which involves invention, narrative and an inexhaustible pursuit of variations on themes."--London Review of Books

"Very enjoyable reading.... Related in a cheerful conversational tone with frequent allusions to, and quotations from, many other fields of knowledge, including literature, history, and philosophy.... This volume should appeal to a broad spectrum of readers interested in learning more about the beauty of mathematics."--Library Journal

"This is a mathematics with a plot and characters, as well as diagrams and formulas. These accounts vary from tragic to laugh-out-loud funny. Those who love math won't want to miss this one, and those who would like to love it but never have should give the book a try."--School Library Journal

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