Imagining Numbers: (Particularly the Square Root of Minus Fifteen) - Softcover

Mazur, Barry

3.28

166 ratings by Goodreads

9780141008875: Imagining Numbers: (Particularly the Square Root of Minus Fifteen)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141008873 ISBN 13: 9780141008875

Publisher: Penguin, 2004

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The book shows how the art of mathematical imagining is not as mysterious as it seems. Drawing on a variety of artistic resources the author reveals how anyone can begin to visualize the enigmatic 'imaginary numbers' that first baffled mathematicians in the 16th century.

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"A poetic and profound meditation on the mathematical imagination." --"The Christian Science Monitor""[A] quizzing, quizzical little book...The window which Mazur cuts into the world of imaginary numbers is just as exciting, and almost as provocative, as anything in Phillip Pullman." --"The Observer" (London)"Through anecdotes, poetry, and philosophy, Mazur...makes a delightful case for the pleasures of abstract thought."--"New Scientist""This absorbing and in itself most imaginative book lies in the grand tradition of explanations of what mathematical imagination is...and will appeal particularly to lovers of literature."--John Hollander "Barry Mazur's "Imagining Numbers" is quite literally a charming book; it has brought even me, in a dazed state, to the brink of mathematical play." --Richard Wilbur, author of "Mayflies: New Poems and Translations"

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