The King of Infinite Space: Euclid and His Elements - Hardcover

Berlinski, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 046501481X ISBN 13: 9780465014811

Publisher: Basic Books, 2013

Synopsis

Geometry defines the world around us, helping us make sense of everything from architecture to military science to fashion. And for over two thousand years, geometry has been equated with Euclid's Elements, arguably the most influential book in the history of mathematics In The King of Infinite Space, renowned mathematics writer David Berlinski provides a concise homage to this elusive mathematician and his staggering achievements. Berlinski shows that, for centuries, scientists and thinkers from Copernicus to Newton to Einstein have relied on Euclid's axiomatic system, a method of proof still taught in classrooms around the world. Euclid's use of elemental logic—and the mathematical statements he and others built from it—have dramatically expanded the frontiers of human knowledge.

The King of Infinite Space presents a rich, accessible treatment of Euclid and his beautifully simple geometric system, which continues to shape the way we see the world.

About this title

About the Author

David Berlinski holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University and has taught mathematics and philosophy at universities in the United States and France. The bestselling author of A Tour of the Calculus and Newton's Gift, as well as many other books, he lives in Paris.

Reviews

*Starred Review* “As dazzling as first love” is how Bertrand Russell described his initial encounter with Euclid. As a mathematician who understands what Russell felt, Berlinski guides his readers through the intellectual wonderland that the ancient Greek geometer created in his epoch-making treatise, the Elements. In writing at once geometrically precise and disarmingly conversational, Berlinski explores the imposing edifice that Euclid erected on a foundation of just five deceptively simple axioms. Each of these axioms receives careful scrutiny, allowing readers to share in the excitement of mapping out the dimensions of an audacious new human enterprise, inscribing sharp boundaries around key concepts yet opening onto the infinite. Only an author who thinks both mathematically and philosophically could infer—as Berlinski does—the intellectual and even moral substance of the mental perspective that Euclid unfolds. Readers thus come to realize how Euclid’s pioneering thought made possible the rigor of a mathematical proof—and the discipline of a mathematical life. Even in the revolutionary modern theorizing of non-Euclidian geometers such as Lobachevsky, Bolyai, and Poincaré, readers will discern Euclid’s abiding influence as a visionary who glimpsed the mathematical unities hidden beneath chaotic appearances. An impressively concise distillation of the wizardry that transforms points, lines, and planes into sheer genius. --Bryce Christensen

Edition details

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 046501481X
• ISBN 13: 9780465014811
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192