See how math's infinite mysteries and beauty unfold in this captivating educational book! Discover more than 85 of the most important mathematical ideas, theorems, and proofs ever devised with this beautifully illustrated book. Get to know the great minds whose revolutionary discoveries changed our world today. You don't have to be a math genius to follow along with this book! This brilliant book is packed with short, easy-to-grasp explanations, step-by-step diagrams, and witty illustrations that play with our ideas about numbers. What is an imaginary number? Can two parallel lines ever meet? How can math help us predict the future? All will be revealed and explained in this encyclopedia of mathematics. It's as easy as 1-2-3! The Math Book tells the exciting story of how mathematical thought advanced through history. This diverse and inclusive account will have something for everybody, including the math behind world economies and espionage. This book charts the development of math around the world, from ancient mathematical ideas and inventions like prehistoric tally bones through developments in medieval and Renaissance Europe. Fast forward to today and gain insight into the recent rise of game and group theory. Delve in deeper into the history of math: - Ancient and Classical Periods 6000 BCE - 500 CE - The Middle Ages 500 - 1500 - The Renaissance 1500 - 1680 - The Enlightenment 1680 - 1800 - The 19th Century 1800 - 1900 - Modern Mathematics 1900 - Present The Series Simply Explained With over 7 million copies sold worldwide to date, The Math Book is part of the award-winning Big Ideas Simply Explained series from DK Books. It uses innovative graphics along with engaging writing to make complex subjects easier to understand.

This book presents detailed studies of the development of three kinds of number. In the first part the development of the natural numbers from Stone-Age times right up to the present day is examined not only from the point of view of pure history but also taking into account archaeological, anthropological and linguistic evidence. The dramatic change caused by the introduction of logical theories of number in the 19th century is also treated and this part ends with a non-technical account of the very latest developments in the area of G”del's theorem. The second part is concerned with the development of complex numbers and tries to answer the question as to why complex numbers were not introduced before the 16th century and then, by looking at the original materials, shows how they were introduced as a pragmatic device which was only subsequently shown to be theoretically justifiable. The third part concerns the real numbers and examines the distinction that the Greeks made between number and magnitude. It then traces the gradual development of a theory of real numbers up to the precise formulations in the nineteeth century. The importance of the Greek distinction between the number line and the geometric line is brought into sharp focus.This is an new edition of the book which first appeared privately published in 1980 and is now out of print. Substantial revisions have been made throughout the text, incorporating new material which has recently come to light and correcting a few relatively minor errors. The third part on real numbers has been very extensively revised and indeed the last chapter has been almost completely rewritten. Many revisions are the results of comments from earlier readers of the book.

Widely praised by critics in Canada and the U.S., shortlisted for the 1994 SmithBooks/Books in Canada First Novel Award and a City of Toronto Book Award, Minus Time made a stunningly successful publishing debut. Now with the February 2000 release of Catherine Bush’s second novel, The Rules of Engagement (see page 9), and interest from the film community, this is the perfect time for the new PerennialCanada edition of Minus Time. With surreal lyricism and edgy, deadpan wit, Catherine Bush’s Minus Time traces the desire of a young woman to make a place for herself in a media-mad, toxic-scare-filled world. Helen’s mother is an astronaut trying to set an endurance record in a space station. Her father, a disaster-relief specialist, circles the world saving people from catastrophe. What kind of family is possible when your parents are in constant motion and there’s so much space separating you from them? With risks of disaster all around, how do you dream a future for yourself? Set in a world where external events aptly mirror the drama of personal relationships, Minus Time offers up a brilliantly observed, deeply moving tale of millennial life, in a voice sliced through with irony and awe.