A Most Elegant Equation

Stipp gives his reader a good shot at getting hold of something beautiful. --The Weekly Standard Mr. Stipp's roving account is propelled by his folksy sense of humor. --Wall Street Journal If you are an intelligent reader--even one with a weak mathematical background... you could learn a lot from this book, and enjoy the experience. --Mathematical Association of America Even though Pi, e, and i are Very Important Numbers, they seemed unrelated---until Euler discovered a simple, beautiful, and totally unexpected link between them. This delightful book shows us why the formula is surprising, yet inevitable. Thoroughly enjoyable! --- Ian Stewart, author of Significant Figures--- Does mathematics transcend our humanness, or is it simply a human construct? Either way, the astonishing interconnections and stunning beauty that mathematics offers can only serve to uplift our human souls. The poetry of 'e to the i pi, ' as exemplified by David Stipp, masterfully proves this. --- James Tanton, Mathematician-at-Large for the Mathematical Association of America--- As a non-professional recovering mathlete, I found A Most Elegant Equation a delightful excursion into the beauty of mathematical thinking. Not only is Stipp a great storyteller, he is a terrific teacher with an easy conversational style who makes the most complex concepts lucid. For anyone who was ever afraid of math, here's your cure. --- Richard A. Friedman, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College and contributing Op-Ed writer for the New York Times--- A Most Elegant Equation is a smart, incisive account of Euler's famous equation. It beautifully and seamlessly straddles the line between the salient ideas of the equation's proof and its historical, scientific, and philosophical significance. --- John Allen Paulos, professor of mathematics at Temple University and author of Innumeracy and A Numerate Life---