The New Book of Prime Number Records (Computers and Medicine) - Hardcover

Ribenboim, Paulo

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0387944575 ISBN 13: 9780387944579

Publisher: Springer, 1996

Synopsis

This text originated as a lecture delivered November 20, 1984, at Queen's University, in the undergraduate colloquium senes. In another colloquium lecture, my colleague Morris Orzech, who had consulted the latest edition of the Guinness Book of Records, reminded me very gently that the most "innumerate" people of the world are of a certain trible in Mato Grosso, Brazil. They do not even have a word to express the number "two" or the concept of plurality. "Yes, Morris, I'm from Brazil, but my book will contain numbers different from ·one.''' He added that the most boring 800-page book is by two Japanese mathematicians (whom I'll not name) and consists of about 16 million decimal digits of the number Te. "I assure you, Morris, that in spite of the beauty of the appar­ ent randomness of the decimal digits of Te, I'll be sure that my text will include also some words." And then I proceeded putting together the magic combina­ tion of words and numbers, which became The Book of Prime Number Records. If you have seen it, only extreme curiosity could impel you to have this one in your hands. The New Book of Prime Number Records differs little from its predecessor in the general planning. But it contains new sections and updated records.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

The Guinness Book made records immensely popular. This book is devoted, at first glance, to present records concerning prime numbers. But it is much more. It explores the interface between computations and the theory of prime numbers. The book contains an up-to-date historical presentation of the main problems about prime numbers, as well as many fascinating topics, including primality testing. It is written in a language without secrets and is thoroughly accessible to everyone with some mathematical education. This new book has an improved and smoother presentation.

Review:

Third Edition

P. Ribenboim

The New Book of Prime Number Records

"A number-theoretical version of the Guinness Book of Records . . . There is much mathematics to be found in these pages. These are records given here as well. This book is written with much wit. Experts may not find much that is new, but it is always worthwhile to view the history of a subject as a whole rather than a collection of isolated results."―MATHEMATICAL REVIEWS

About this edition

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0387944575
• ISBN 13: 9780387944579
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 565