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God Created the Integers: The Mathematical Breakthroughs that Changed History
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 510
EAN: 9780762430048
ISBN: 0762430044
Label: Running Press
Manufacturer: Running Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 1376
Publication Date: October 08, 2007
Publisher: Running Press
Studio: Running Press
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Editorial Review:
"God created the integers," wrote mathematician Leopold Kronecker, "All the rest is the work of Man." In this collection of landmark mathematical works, editor Stephen Hawking has assembled the greatest feats humans have ever accomplished using just numbers and their brains. Each of the 17 sections opens with a historical introduction of the featured author, and proceeds to a faithful translation of their most famous work. While most mathematicians will already have complete editions of Isaac Newton's Principia or Georg Cantor's Contributions to the Founding of the Theory of Transfinite Numbers, this book is unique in presenting just the best bits of these and other theoretical works. The collection spans 2,500 years and covers a vast range of theories: the parallel postulate, Boolean logic, differential calculus, and the philosophy of the unknowable among them. Dense with numbers, formulae, and ideas, God Created the Integers is quite challenging, but Hawking rewards curious readers with a look at how mathematics has been built. In contrast to the towering physical edifices of great civilizations of the past, Hawking writes, "The greatest wonder of the modern world is our understanding." --Therese Littleton
Pulled together for the first time, and paired with commentary from the world’s most respected scholars, God Created the Integers presents history’s extraordinary moments in math, culled from 2,500 years of history and 21 distinguished mathematicians, four more than the hardcover edition. Each chapter begins with a profile of one of these mathematical masters, followed by original printings of their relevant works. This new paperback edition includes the work of Euler, Galois, Bolyai, and Lobachevsky. Readers get a window into the minds of these geniuses and can see the unfolding thought process as it leads, inevitably, to the high-water marks in mathematical thinking. This new edition comes with an index to make it a valuable and easy-to-use research and reference tool.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Great compendium
Great compendium of (some of) the most important works in math. I would have added some authors but I think the selection is awesome. Clearly explained and original works are well referenced.
Rating:  - My son liked his Christmas gift
My son asked for this book for Christmas, so I bought it for him. Looking inside, I saw it was way over my head. But he, being a math and computer genius, loved it.
Rating:  - Shout for joy or toss it?
To evaluate my comments, I think you should know who I am and why I bought this book: I'm a former technical editor and writer. As a girl, I was discouraged from studying math, because at the time (the Fifties and Sixties) they thought girls couldn't understand it.
Recently I've tried to fill in the gaps in my math and science education. I thought the idea of Hawkings choosing landmark math texts and commenting on them was fantastic. After spending three days trying to understand the ... Read More
Rating: - God Created the Integers
This is a beautiful book because it lists the life and work of 16 mathematicians whose work has inspired our civilization. For example Einstein is not included, but Riemann whose analysis of curved space is the foundation of the General Theory of Relativity is rhere. So also are Archimedes and Newton the pillars of mathematical physics.Kurt Godel in 1931 proved that there will always a truth that is outside a set of axioms.Some of the original papers are difficult but I have gained much from the logic ... Read More
Rating: - Forget the flaws. Enjoy it.
I just couldn't put this book down. I was so absorbed that I even missed my station and had to catch a train back. The biographies mixed with mathematical explanations and an outline of the significance of each work is brilliant. It gives one an insight into how context-dependent genius really is.
I knew that the book had flaws because I read these reviews a while ago. But so what! You wouldn't use this book for reference or as a text book. It's meant to be entertainment and entertaining it ... Read More
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