Numbers: Their Tales, Types, and Treasures

Have you ever questioned why counting is deceptively complex? Maybe you have wondered, “Why is ours a base ten system?” This book answers these questions, and many more. Chapters such as Numbers and Counting, Counting for Poets, Special Numbers, and Number Relationships expose the fascinating connections and properties of numbers.

Alfred Posamentier and Bernd Thaller have created a masterpiece! Within is shown the properties of numbers, and why and how it happened. For example, in the chapter mentioned above, “Counting for Poets”, ancient Indian monks are described to have put their important texts in verse so mistakes would be easy to spot (they would break the rhythm). When a monk, Pingala, wanted to know how many verses were possible, he turned to mathematics. Other intriguing stories show other mathematical adventures, like Elijah of Vilna, who discovered Pi correct to four decimal places in the Bible. Mostly, however, mathy concepts are explained in a clear, concise manner, which made for a riveting experience. The subject makes this book no light reading, but it is as accessible as possible, so not hard to read either.