A Brief History of Infinity: The Quest to Think the Unthinkable

Clegg, Brian

ISBN 10: 1841196509 / ISBN 13: 9781841196503

Published by Robinson, London, 2003

About this Item

First edition. 8vo. 255 pp. Philosophers and mathematicians have gone mad?in some cases, literally so?contemplating the nature of infinity, yet it is a concept we now introduce to schoolchildren. Thoroughly readable and accessible, science writer Brian Clegg's lively history explores the rather troubling concept of infinity in its many facets, from its ancient origins to its place today at the heart of mathematics and science. He examines infinity's paradoxes and profiles the people who first grappled with and then defined and refined them, and offers information, mystery, and poetry to help conceive of the inconceivable. New trade paperback.

Seller Inventory # 014665

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Brief History of Infinity: The Quest to Think the Unthinkable
• Publisher: Robinson, London
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1841196509
• ISBN 13: 9781841196503
• Binding: Trade Paperback
• Edition: First Edition
• Condition: New
• Seller catalogs:
  • Mathematics

About this title

Synopsis

'Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the street to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space.' Douglas Adams, Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

We human beings have trouble with infinity - yet infinity is a surprisingly human subject. Philosophers and mathematicians have gone mad contemplating its nature and complexity - yet it is a concept routinely used by schoolchildren. Exploring the infinite is a journey into paradox. Here is a quantity that turns arithmetic on its head, making it feasible that 1 = 0. Here is a concept that enables us to cram as many extra guests as we like into an already full hotel. Most bizarrely of all, it is quite easy to show that there must be something bigger than infinity - when it surely should be the biggest thing that could possibly be.

Brian Clegg takes us on a fascinating tour of that borderland between the extremely large and the ultimate that takes us from Archimedes, counting the grains of sand that would fill the universe, to the latest theories on the physical reality of the infinite. Full of unexpected delights, whether St Augustine contemplating the nature of creation, Newton and Leibniz battling over ownership of calculus, or Cantor struggling to publicise his vision of the transfinite, infinity's fascination is in the way it brings together the everyday and the extraordinary, prosaic daily life and the esoteric.

Whether your interest in infinity is mathematical, philosophical, spiritual or just plain curious, this accessible book offers a stimulating and entertaining read.

About the Author

Brian Clegg studied physics at Cambridge University and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He has written a number of popular science books including A Brief History of Infinity, Light Years, The God Effect and Before the Big Bang.