Alex's Adventures in Numberland by Alex Bellos

Alex's Adventures in Numberland by Alex Bellos

A tenth anniversary edition of the iconic book about the wonderful world of maths Sunday Times bestseller | Shortlisted for the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize ‘Original and highly entertaining' Sunday Times ‘A page turner about humanity's strange, never easy and, above all, never dull relationship with numbers' New Scientist ‘Will leave you hooked on numbers' Daily Telegraph In this richly entertaining and accessible book, Alex Bellos explodes the myth that maths is best left to the geeks, and demonstrates the remarkable ways it's linked to our everyday lives. Alex explains the surprising geometry of the 50p piece, and the strategy of how best to gamble it in a casino. He shines a light on the mathematical patterns in nature, and on the peculiar predictability of random behaviour. He eats a potato crisp whose revolutionary shape was unpalatable to the ancient Greeks, and he shows the deep connections between maths, religion and philosophy. From the world's fastest mental calculators in Germany to numerologists in the US desert, from a startlingly numerate chimpanzee in Japan to venerable Hindu sages in India, these dispatches from 'Numberland' are an unlikely but exhilarating cocktail of history, reportage and mathematical proofs. The world of maths is a much friendlier and more colourful place than you might have imagined. This anniversary edition is fully revised and updated.

‘Original and highly entertaining' * Sunday Times *
‘Will leave you hooked on numbers' * Daily Telegraph *
‘A page turner about humanity's strange, never easy and, above all, never dull relationship with numbers' * New Scientist *
'Outstanding.. The style is laced with humour, but at all times, the star of the show is mathematics' * Ian Stewart, Prospect *

Alex Bellos has a degree in Mathematics and Philosophy from Oxford University. He has worked for the Guardian in London and Rio de Janeiro, where he was the paper's unusually numerate foreign correspondent. In 2002 he wrote a critically acclaimed book about Brazilian football and in 2006 ghostwrote Pelé's autobiography, which was a number one bestseller.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781408809594
ISBN 10	1408809591
Title	Alex's Adventures in Numberland
Author	Alex Bellos
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Year published	2011-04-04
Number of pages	448
Prizes	Short-listed for BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2010, Short-listed for Galaxy National Book Awards: Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2010
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable