Zero to Infinity: A History of Numbers

Edward B Burger

ISBN 10: 159803376X / ISBN 13: 9781598033762

Published by The Teaching Company, United States, 2007

About this Item

The Teaching Company, Date: 2007. DVD. New. DVD. In original slip case. Guidebook included. In shrink wrap. 9781598033762 US Parts 1 and 2 DVDs and Course guideboook.

Seller Inventory # 001119

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Zero to Infinity: A History of Numbers
• Publisher: The Teaching Company, United States
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 159803376X
• ISBN 13: 9781598033762
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Weight: 1.2 pounds

About this title

Synopsis

Numbers surround us. They mark our days, light our nights, foretell our weather, and keep us on course. They drive commerce and sustain civilization. But what are they? These 24 lectures explore this fascinating question and the equally fascinating history of numbers. Professor Burger’s historical, global, and conceptual approach to numbers gives you not only a revealing tour of mathematical history but shows how and why numbers evolved, as well as the transforming implications of each advance for both mathematics and society. Professor Burger structures this investigation into the concept of number with five main points of focus, each of which informs the other and allows our understanding to grow and evolve in step with the numbers themselves. You’ll examine early conceptual underpinnings of numbers that led to our current common notion of number; learn how numbers eventually took on a life of their own within the larger structure of mathematics; ponder the stories of ? and e - the two most important numbers in our universe; explore the algebraic and analytic evolutions of number; and delve into the idea of infinity, which holds many fascinating features. Among the types of numbers you explore throughout the course are: real numbers, or numbers that can be given by an infinite decimal representation; natural numbers, used primarily for counting and ordering; prime numbers, which are natural numbers greater than 1 that can be divided by only 1 and itself; irrational numbers, which are numbers that cannot be expressed as simple fractions; and transcendental numbers, or irrational numbers that are not algebraic.