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The universe in zero words : the story of mathematics as told through equations

Mackenzie, Dana2012

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Summary

Most popular books about science, and even about mathematics, tiptoe around equations as if they were something to be hidden from the reader's tender eyes. Dana Mackenzie starts from the opposite premise: He celebrates equations. No history of art would be complete without pictures. Why, then, should a history of mathematics - the universal language of science - keep the masterpieces of the subject hidden behind a veil? The Universe in Zero Words tells the history of twenty-four great and beautiful equations that have shaped mathematics, science, and society - from the elementary (1+1=2) to the sophisticated (the Black-Scholes formula for financial derivatives), and from the famous (E=mc2) to the arcane (Hamilton's quaternion equations). Mackenzie, who has been called "a popular-science ace" by Booklist magazine, lucidly explains what each equation means, who discovered it (and how), and how it has affected our lives.