Number: The Language of Science

"Beyond doubt the most interesting book on the evolution of mathematics which has ever fallen into my hands."—Albert Einstein

Number is an eloquent, accessible tour de force that reveals how the concept of number evolved from prehistoric times through the twentieth century.  Renowned professor of mathematics Tobias Dantzig shows that the development of math—from the invention of counting to the discovery of infinity—is a profoundly human story that progressed by “trying and erring, by groping and stumbling.” He shows how commerce, war, and religion led to advances in math, and he recounts the stories of individuals whose breakthroughs expanded the concept of number and created the mathematics that we know today.

Tobias Dantzig was born in Russia, and was taught by Henri Poincaré in France before moving the United States. He received his Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Indiana, and was a professor of mathematics at the University of Maryland. He died in 1956.

Joseph Mazur is Professor of Mathematics at Marlboro College, where he has taught a wide range of classes in all areas of mathematics, its history, and philosophy.