Name: e: The Story of a Number By Eli Maor
SKU: 9780691058542
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e: The Story of a Number Summary

e: The Story of a Number by Eli Maor

The interest earned on a bank account, the arrangement of seeds in a sun flower, and the shape of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis are all intimately connected with the mysterious number e. In this informal history, Eli Maor portrays the curious characters and the elegant mathematics that lie behind the number. Designed for the reader with only a modest background in mathematics and illuminates a golde era in the age of science.

e: The Story of a Number Reviews

This is a gently paced, elegantly composed book, and it will bring its readers much pleasure... Maor has written an excellent book that should be in every public and school library. -- Ian Stewart New Scientist Maor wonderfully tells the story of e. The chronological history allows excursions into the lives of people involved with the development of this fascinating number. Maor hangs his story on a string of people stretching from Archimedes to David Hilbert. And by presenting mathematics in terms of the humans who produced it, he places the subject where it belongs--squarely in the centre of the humanities. -- Jerry P. King Nature Maor has succeeded in writing a short, readable mathematical story. He has interspersed a variety of anecdotes, excursions, and essays to lighten the flow... [The book] is like the voyages of Columbus as told by the first mate. -- Peter Borwein Science Maor attempts to give the irrational number e its rightful standing alongside pi as a fundamental constant in science and nature; he succeeds very well... Maor writes so that both mathematical newcomers and long-time professionals alike can thoroughly enjoy his book, learn something new, and witness the ubiquity of mathematical ideas in Western culture. Choice

About Eli Maor

Eli Maor is the author of Beautiful Geometry (with Eugen Jost), Venus in Transit, Trigonometric Delights, To Infinity and Beyond, and The Pythagorean Theorem: A 4,000-Year History (all Princeton).

Preface John Napier, 1614 2Recognition 3Financial Matters 4To the Limit, If It Exists 5Forefathers of the Calculus 6Prelude to Breakthrough 7Squaring the Hyperbola 8The Birth of a New Science 9The Great Controversy 10e[superscript x]: The Function That Equals its Own Derivative 11e[superscript theta]: Spira Mirabilis 12(e[superscript x] + e[superscript -x])/2: The Hanging Chain 13e[superscript ix]: The Most Famous of All Formulas 14e[superscript x + iy]: The Imaginary Becomes Real 15But What Kind of Number Is It? App. 1. Some Additional Remarks on Napier's Logarithms App. 2. The Existence of lim (1 + 1/n)[superscript n] as n [approaches] [infinity] App. 3. A Heuristic Derivation of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus App. 4. The Inverse Relation between lim (b[superscript h] - 1)/h = 1 and lim (1 + h)[superscript 1/h] = b as h [approaches] 0 App. 5. An Alternative Definition of the Logarithmic Function App. 6. Two Properties of the Logarithmic Spiral App. 7. Interpretation of the Parameter [phi] in the Hyperbolic Functions App. 8. e to One Hundred Decimal Places Bibliography Index

Additional information

Sku

GOR001996839

ISBN 13

9780691058542

ISBN 10

0691058547

Title

e: The Story of a Number by Eli Maor

Author

Eli Maor

Series

Princeton Science Library

Condition

Used - Very Good

Binding type

Paperback

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Year published

19980524

Number of pages

248

Prizes

Runner-up for AAP/Professional and Scholarly Publishing Awards: Mathematics and Statistics 1994

Cover note

Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.

Note

This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

e: The Story of a Number Eli Maor

e: The Story of a Number by Eli Maor

Summary

e: The Story of a Number Summary

e: The Story of a Number by Eli Maor

e: The Story of a Number Reviews

About Eli Maor

Table of Contents

Additional information

Customer Reviews - e: The Story of a Number