The Fifth Postulate: How Unraveling A Two Thousand Year Old Mystery Unraveled the Universe - Hardcover

Bardi, Jason Socrates

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470149094 ISBN 13: 9780470149096

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2008

Synopsis

This is a deftly told tale of the 19th-century geniuses who solved the world's oldest unsolved math problem, sparking a disruptive scientific revolution. Euclidean geometry has been profoundly influential for centuries, but its Fifth Postulate (which asserts that two parallel lines will never intersect) eluded all attempts to prove it. What happened when three 19th-century mathematicians realized that there was no way to prove the Fifth Postulate and that it ought to be discarded - along with everything they'd come to 'know' about geometry? Jason Socrates Bardi shares the dramatic story of the moment that the tangible and easily understood world we live in gave way to the strange, mind-blowing world of relativity, curved space, and more. Jason Socrates Bardi (College Park, MD) is the author of "The Calculus Wars" (978-1-56025-992-3).

About this title

From the Back Cover

The great discovery that no one wanted to make

It′s the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, and Euclidean geometry has been profoundly influential for centuries. One mystery remains, however: Euclid′s fifth postulate has eluded for two thousand years all attempts to prove it. What happens when three nineteenth–century mathematicians realize that there is no way to prove the fifth postulate and that it ought to be discarded—along with everything they′d come to know about geometry? Jason Socrates Bardi shares the dramatic story of the moment when the tangible and easily understood world we live in gave way to the strange, mind–blowing world of relativity, curved space–time, and more.

"Jason Socrates Bardi tells the story of the discovery of non–Euclidian geometry—one of the greatest intellectual advances of all time—with tremendous clarity and verve. I loved this book."
—John Horgan, author, The End of Science and Rational Mysticism

"An accessible and engrossing blend of micro–biography, history and mathematics, woven together to reveal a blockbuster discovery."
—David Wolman, author of Righting the Mother Tongue and A Left–Hand Turn around the World

About the Author

Jason Socrates Bardi, author of The Calculus Wars, holds master′s degrees in both science writing and molecular biophysics from Johns Hopkins University.

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0470149094
• ISBN 13: 9780470149096
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 272