Alex's Adventures in Numberland: Dispatches from the Wonderful World of Mathematics

BELLOS, Alex

ISBN 10: 0747597162 / ISBN 13: 9780747597162

Published by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2010

About this Item

100% Customer Satisfaction Guaranteed ! The book shows some signs of wear from use but is a good readable copy. Cover in excellent condition. Binding tight. Pages in great shape, no tears. Not contain access codes, cd, DVD.

Seller Inventory # MBSG0747597162

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Alex's Adventures in Numberland: Dispatches from the Wonderful World of Mathematics
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Publication Date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0747597162
• ISBN 13: 9780747597162
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st.
• Condition: good

About this title

Synopsis

In this richly entertaining and accessible book, Alex Bellos explodes the myth that maths is best left to the geeks. Covering subjects from adding to algebra, from set theory to statistics, and from logarithms to logical paradoxes, he explains how mathematical ideas underpin just about everything in our lives. Alex explains the surprising geometry of the 50p piece, and the strategy of how best to gamble it in a casino. He shines a light on the mathematical patterns in nature, and on the peculiar predictability of random behaviour. He eats a potato crisp whose revolutionary shape was unpalatable to the ancient Greeks, and he shows the deep connections between maths, religion and philosophy. Alex weaves a journey from primary school to university level maths, from ancient history to the computing frontline, and from St Louis, Missouri, to Braintree, Essex. He meets the world's fastest mental calculators in Germany, consults a numerologist in the US desert, meets a startlingly numerate chimpanzee in Japan, and seeks advice from a venerable Hindu sage in India. An unlikely but exhilarating cocktail of history, reportage and mathematical proofs, Alex's dispatches from 'Numberland' show the world of maths to be a much friendlier and more colourful place than you might have imagined.

About the Author

Alex Bellos writes about maths and football. He has a degree in Mathematics and Philosophy from Oxford, and is a former South America correspondent for the Guardian. His books include the bestselling Alex's Adventures in Numberland and its sequel Alex Through the Looking Glass, Visions of Numberland, Can You Solve My Problems? and So You Think You've Got Problems? as well as the Football School series of children's books, which he co-authors. He has been the puzzle columnist for the Guardian since 2015. Alex lives in London with his wife and two sons.