Numbers

How Counting Changed the World

Tom Jackson

$24.99

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Shelter Publications
01 May 2017

Mathematics; Children's & Educational

Series: Inside Mathematics

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- This is the sort of book that brings to life a subject that for many of us was made to be dull and boring! To begin with, it is colourfully illustrated, with informative captions (on the very first page one explains how piles of pebbles were called calculi in Latin, thus giving us the word calculate). It clearly explains concepts in terms of numbers, for example fractions break up whole numbers, logarithms use addition for multiplication, numbers can be imaginary or solve problems or expain the world. It covers history, mathematicians and processes, all in an informative but accessible style. Ages 10+ (even the interested non-maths adult!) Lindy Jones

The first book in a new series

One of the hardest questions that mathematics teachers have to answer is “Why?”. Schoolroom sums are crucial in learning the awesome power of mathematics, but they are often a world away from how the knowledge is applied and where it came from. Numbers: How Counting Changed the World is there to fill that gap.

The story of numbers begins with counting 1,2, 3… but it ends with a mind-boggling mass of numbers so densely packed that we can’t be sure where one number ends and another begins. Along the way we meet superhero numbers like π, e and googol; we learn that numbers can be perfect, irrational, even imaginary; and that modern mathematics still bears the hallmarks of many ancient civilizations.

Numbers: How Counting Changed the World introduces the amazing people who figured out what numbers are and what they can do. Written to engage, entertain, and enthuse young people, it shows readers how the ideas of long-dead geniuses ended up in their homework assignments: The Mayans of ancient Mexico were using zeros long before anyone else, and we count time and angles in multiples of 60 because that is what the people of Babylon did (for good reason). Meanwhile Pythagoras was a murderer, the shape of a credit card is defined by the golden ratio, and John Napier, the inventor of logarithms, seldom appeared in public without his pet rooster!

By: Tom Jackson
Imprint: Shelter Publications
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 228mm, Width: 191mm, Spine: 18mm
Weight: 658g
ISBN: 9781627950749
ISBN 10: 1627950745
Series: Inside Mathematics
Publication Date: 01 May 2017
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active