Euclid's Window: The Story of Geometry from Parallel Lines to Hyperspace - Softcover

Leonard Mlodinow

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0684865246 ISBN 13: 9780684865249

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2002

Synopsis

Through Euclid's Window Leonard Mlodinow brilliantly and delightfully leads us on a journey through five revolutions in geometry, from the Greek concept of parallel lines to the latest notions of hyperspace. Here is an altogether new, refreshing, alternative history of math revealing how simple questions anyone might ask about space -- in the living room or in some other galaxy -- have been the hidden engine of the highest achievements in science and technology. Based on Mlodinow's extensive historical research; his studies alongside colleagues such as Richard Feynman and Kip Thorne; and interviews with leading physicists and mathematicians such as Murray Gell-Mann, Edward Witten, and Brian Greene, Euclid's Window is an extraordinary blend of rigorous, authoritative investigation and accessible, good-humored storytelling that makes a stunningly original argument asserting the primacy of geometry. For those who have looked through Euclid's Window, no space, no thing, and no time will ever be quite the same.

About this title

Review

In his charming mathematical history, Euclid's Window Leonard Mlodinow asks "How do you know where you are?" This question and others about space and time grew out of simple observations of the environment by a select group of thinkers whose lives and brains Mlodinow dissects. Starting with Euclid geometry has flowed out over the centuries describing the universe and, Mlodinow argues, making modern civilization possible.

This is not just a history of geometry--it's a timeline of reason and abstraction, with all the major players present: Euclid, Descartes, Gauss, Einstein and Witten, each represented by a mini-biography.

Lots of examples pepper the narrative to help readers achieve their own "eureka!" And it's impossible not to be staggered at the mathematical feats of these geniuses, accomplished as many of them were in the absence of anything but observation and intense thought. Each story builds satisfactorily upon the last until at the end of this delightful book one has a sense of having climbed a peak of understanding.

A working knowledge of basic geometry is helpful but not essential for enjoying Euclid's Window, and Mlodinow's chatty style lends itself remarkably well to explaining these deep and revolutionary concepts. --Adam Fisher

Review

Curt Suplee The Washington Post High-spirited, splendidly lucid and often hilarious.

Michael Guillen author of Five Equations That Changed the World How often can you say that a book on math -- on math! -- is a real page-turner? Well, this one is. As engaging as a soap opera, as fascinating as a whodunit, as funny as the Sunday comics, Mlodinow's book is storytelling at its best.

Brian Greene author of The Elegant Universe There is perhaps no better way to prepare for the scientific breakthroughs of tomorrow than to learn the language of geometry, and Euclid's Window makes this task lively and enjoyable.

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0684865246
• ISBN 13: 9780684865249
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 320