The Music of the Primes: Why an unsolved problem in mathematics matters - Hardcover

Du Sautoy, Marcus

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1841155799 ISBN 13: 9781841155791

Publisher: Fourth Estate, 2003

Synopsis

In a stunning, historical narrative, ‘The Music of the Primes’ reveals the history behind one of the biggest ideas in science.

In 1859, the German mathematician Bernhard Riemann presented a paper to the Berlin Academy which would change the history of mathematics. The subject was the strange and enigmatic prime numbers. At the heart of the presentation was an idea, a hypothesis, that Riemann had not yet proved but which has come to obsess mathematicians for the last 150 years. No one knows if he ever found the proof; on his death his housekeeper burnt all the personal papers. Today, the hypothesis is considered by many the holy grail of mathematics but has significance far beyond maths.

At the of the heart of the enigma is a prize much larger than just intellectual glory; not only is there a $1 million reward for the person who can crack it but also is the key to all banking and e-commerce security. It is the idea that brings together many other areas of science and has ramifications within Quantum Mechanics, Chaos Theory and the future of computing.

In 'The Music of the Primes', one of Britain's leading mathematicians, Marcus du Sautoy, recounts the history of these elusive numbers. It is a story of eccentric and brilliant men, last minute escapes from death, strange journeys, dangerous ideas and the unquenchable thirst for knowledge that drove some men mad and others to unparalleled glory. du Sautoy also tells a coruscating history of Mathematics. Combining in-depth knowledge as a practitioner in the field with narrative flair, this book will become a classic of popular science writing and will rank alongside 'Chaos' and 'Fermat's Last Theorem' within the genre.

The Riemann Hypothesis:
• Compared to Fermat's Last Theorem, the Hypothesis is mathematicians’ real Holy Grail
• Is the only problem from Hilbert's 1900 Centenary Problems that was unproved in the 20th century and now has a $1 million reward for the person who cracks it.
• The Hypothesis is the key to all Internet and e-commerce security

About this title

About the Author

Marcus du Sautoy has been named by the Independent on Sunday as one of the UK's leading scientists, has written extensively for the Guardian, The Times and the Daily Telegraph and has appeared on Radio 4 on numerous occasions. In 2008 he was appointed to Oxford University’s prestigious professorship as the Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science, a post previously held by Richard Dawkins.

Edition details

• Publisher: Fourth Estate
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1841155799
• ISBN 13: 9781841155791
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352