Full name: Pi in the Sky: Counting, Thinking, and Being

Author: John D. Barrow Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: Purchase/reserch links: LibraryThing Amazon Goodreads ISBNs: 9780316082594 0316082597

John D. Barrow's Pi in the Sky is a profound -- and profoundly different -- exploration of the world of mathematics: where it comes from, what it is, and where it's going to take us if we follow it to the limit in our search for the ultimate meaning of the universe. Barrow begins by investigating whether math is a purely human invention inspired by our practical needs. Or is it something inherent in nature waiting to be discovered?In answering these questions, Barrow provides a bridge between the usually irreconcilable worlds of mathematics and theology. Along the way, he treats us to a history of counting all over the world, from Egyptian hieroglyphics to logical friction, from number mysticism to Marxist mathematics. And he introduces us to a host of peculiar individuals who have thought some of the deepest and strangest thoughts that human minds have ever thought, from Lao-Tse to Robert Pirsig, Charles Darwin, and Umberto Eco. Barrow thus provides the historical framework and the intellectual tools necessary to an understanding of some of today's weightiest mathematical concepts. Similar books: The Mathematical Tourist by Ivars Peterson Is God a Mathematician? by Mario Livio Mathematics by Timothy Gowers Archimedes' Revenge by Paul Hoffman by John Allen Paulos Professor Stewart's Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities by Ian Stewart The Math Gene by Keith Devlin 50 Mathematical Ideas You Really Need to Know by Tony Crilly Alex's Adventures in Numberland by Alex Bellos Coincidences, Chaos, and All That Math Jazz by Edward B. Burger Geekspeak by Graham Tattersall The Joy of x by Steven Strogatz How Not to Be Wrong by Jordan Ellenberg Mind Tools by Rudolf Rucker The Math Book by Clifford A. Pickover