Spring’s Best Books About Numbers

Eight Lessons on Infinity: A Mathematical Adventure by Haim Shapira

 

A fun, non-technical and wonderfully engaging guide to that most powerful and mysterious of mathematical concepts: infinity.in this book, best-selling author and mathematician Haim Shapira presents an introduction to mathematical theories which deal with the most beautiful concept ever invented by humankind: infinity. (April 2019)

The Universe Speaks in Numbers: How Modern Math Reveals Nature’s Deepest Secrets by Graham Farmelo

 

With unprecedented access to some of the world’s greatest scientific minds, award-winning science writer and biographer Graham Farmelo offers a vivid, behind-the-scenes account of the blossoming relationship between mathematics and physics and the research that could revolutionize our understanding of reality. A masterful account of the some of the most groundbreaking ideas in physics in the past four decades. The Universe Speaks in Numbers is essential reading for anyone interested in the quest to discover the fundamental laws of nature. (May 2019)

The Shape of a Life: One Mathematician’s Search for the Universe’s Hidden Geometry by Shing-Tung Yau, Steve Nadis

 

Harvard geometer and Fields medalist Shing-Tung Yau recounts his lifelong transnational effort to uncover the geometric shape—the Calabi-Yau manifold—that may store the hidden dimensions of our universe. This autobiography offers readers not only insights into the life of an eminent mathematician, but also an accessible way to understand advanced and highly abstract concepts in mathematics and theoretical physics. (February 2019)

Wonders Beyond Numbers: A Brief History of All Things Mathematical by Johnny Ball

 

Now in paperback! By introducing us to the major characters and leading us through many historical twists and turns, TV presenter Johnny Ball slowly unravels the tale of how humanity built up a knowledge and understanding of shapes, numbers and patterns from ancient times, a story that leads directly to the technological wonderland we live in today. Written in Johnny Ball’s characteristically light-hearted and engaging style, this book is packed with historical insight and mathematical marvels. (May)

Math Art: Truth, Beauty, and Equations by Stephen Ornes

The worlds of visual art and mathematics come together in this spectacular volume by award-winning writer Stephen Ornes. He explores the growing sensation of math art, presenting more than 80 pieces, including a crocheted, colorful representation of non-Euclidian geometry that looks like sea coral and a 65-ton, 28-foot-tall bronze sculpture covered in a space-filling curve. For each work, we get the artist’s story followed by accessible and thought-provoking explanations of the mathematical concept and equations behind the art. (April 2019)