Numbers: A Very Short Introduction - Softcover

Higgins, Peter M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199584052 ISBN 13: 9780199584055

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2011

Synopsis

Numbers are integral to our everyday lives and factor into almost everything we do. In this Very Short Introduction, Peter M. Higgins, a renowned popular-science writer, unravels the world of numbers, demonstrating its richness and providing an overview of all the number types that feature in modern science and mathematics. Indeed, Higgins paints a crystal-clear picture of the number world, showing how the modern number system matured over many centuries, and introducing key concepts such as integers, fractions, real and imaginary numbers, and complex numbers. Higgins sheds light on such fascinating topics as the series of primes, describing how primes are now used to encrypt confidential data on the internet. He also explores the infinite nature of number collections and explains how the so-called real numbers knit together to form the continuum of the number line. Written in the fashion of Higgins' highly popular science paperbacks, Numbers accurately explains the nature of numbers and how so-called complex numbers and number systems are used in calculations that arise in real problems.

About this title

About the Author

Peter M. Higgins is Professor and Head of the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Essex University. The author of five popular mathematics books, he is the inventor of Circular Sodoku.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0199584052
• ISBN 13: 9780199584055
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 132