Euclid's Window : The Story of Geometry from Parallel Lines to Hyperspace

Mlodinow, Leonard

ISBN 10: 0684865238 / ISBN 13: 9780684865232

Published by Simon & Schuster Australia, 2001

About this Item

Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects. Seller Inventory # 3949232-6

Bibliographic Details

Title: Euclid's Window : The Story of Geometry from...

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia

Publication Date: 2001

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good

Edition: 1st.

About this title

Synopsis:

The history of geometry in relation to "space" discusses the contributions of Pythagoras, the advent of Albert Einstein's "fourth dimension," and the discovery of seven more dimensions by Princeton mathematician Edward Witten.

Review:

"How do you know where you are?" asks Leonard Mlodinow in his charming mathematical history, Euclid's Window. This question and others about space and time grew out of simple observations of the environment by a select group of thinkers whose lives and brains Mlodinow dissects. Starting with Euclid, geometry has flowed out over the centuries, describing the universe, and, Mlodinow argues, making modern civilization possible.

This is not just a history of geometry--it's a timeline of reason and abstraction, with all the major players present: Euclid, Descartes, Gauss, Einstein, and Witten, each represented by a minibiography.

Lots of examples pepper the narrative to help readers achieve their own "eureka!" And it's impossible not to be staggered at the mathematical feats of these geniuses, accomplished as many of them were in the absence of anything but observation and intense thought. Each story builds satisfactorily on the last, until at the end of this delightful book, one has a sense of having climbed a peak of understanding.

A working knowledge of basic geometry is helpful but not essential for enjoying Euclid's Window, and Mlodinow's chatty style lends itself remarkably well to explaining these deep and revolutionary concepts. --Adam Fisher