Richard Elwes

Imagine if the biggest number you had a symbol for was 1,000,000. In ancient Egypt, anything bigger broke maths. Still today, writing down some numbers is beyond us: try it with all the zeroes in a googolplex, or an outrageous alien number like TREE(3). Even harnessing every particle in the universe, you wouldn't come close. But that hasn't stopped us from hunting down these mind-bendingly big numbers and studying them. In Huge Numbers, mathematician Richard Elwes shows how counting larger and larger numbers has shaped human thought. Whether they are recorded with notches carved on a tally stick, beads on an abacus, or electrical signals carrying binary code, numbers are endlessly expressive and versatile. This rich vocabulary allows us to test the limits of mathematics over and over, breaking it down and putting it back together again. Taking us on a tour that spans continents and millennia, from the Mayan calendar to today's chatbots, Richard Elwes reveals that huge numbers are everywhere, if you know where to look. Discover how they have expanded our horizons and powered our modern world.

How humanity's long pursuit of ever-larger numbers broke the boundaries of mathematics and propelled us into the Information Age What if, every time you wanted to write down 1,000,000, you had to draw a picture of a god? And what if that number were the biggest you had a symbol for? If you were doing math in ancient Egypt, those were the rules: anything bigger broke math. As mathematician Richard Elwes shows in Huge Numbers, this is the strange story of math. Even today, writing down some numbers is beyond us: try it with all the zeroes in a googolplex, or an outrageous alien number like TREE(3). Safer not to try: even harnessing every particle in the universe, you wouldn't come close. But this book is no mere bestiary of numerical monsters. It shows how, by hunting down and studying ever-bigger numbers, arithmetic has reshaped human thought and made our modern era of science and computation possible. Where many math books celebrate abstract algebra or ineffable infinities, Huge Numbers is both more practical and far weirder. It reveals a world where most numbers remain out of reach until we discover how to chase them down and tame them, and so remake our world again.

Fermats stora sats, pi, fibonaccital och Pascals triangel? Visst vet du vad det är? Jag menar, du har säkert hört talas om dem. Men kan du trollbinda dina middagsgäster med berättelsen om hur Fermats stora sats till slut bevisades? Och kan du sprida dina kunskaper om pi till desserten? Matematik på 30 sekunder hjälper dig att få koll på talen genom att korta ner de komplexa matematiska teorierna till två sidor: 300 ord och en bild. Vill du förstå den avgörande skillnaden mellan potenstal och logaritmer eller varför det finns olika nivåer av oändlighet så är det här rätt bok – den tänder även en gnista hos alla som inte precis brann för matten i skolan. Spännande beskrivningar av historiens främsta matematiska genier illustreras av fina bilder i denna fascinerande bok. Läs i din egen takt och upptäck att matematiken faktiskt kan vara helt magisk och inte alls seg och trist.

Von gespiegelten Universen, sozialen Netzwerken, dem Aufstieg des Homo oeconomicus und dem Ärger im Lehrerzimmer Kann uns die Mathematik helfen, besser zu lügen? Wird es Maschinen geben, die klüger sind als wir? Wie wäre es, in einem gespiegelten Universum zu leben? Was können wir von Fischen in einem Teich lernen? Ob Sie es glauben oder nicht – Antworten auf all diese Fragen finden Sie in der Welt der Zahlen. Mathematik ist einfach überall. Dieses Buch behandelt in 35 kurzen Kapiteln ihre überraschendsten Anwendungen im Alltag. Es holt das oft so ungeliebte Fach aus dem Klassenzimmer mitten ins Leben, und es zeigt, wie die Mathematik jenes „verborgene Netz“ knüpft, das unsere Welt durchdringt und beherrscht. Richard Elwes lädt sie zu einer anregenden Entdeckungsreise ein. Es geht um Wettervorhersagen, Wahlen und Warteschlangen, um bildgebende Verfahren und schwarze Löcher, um ein mathematisches Modell, wie man zu Reichtum gelangt, und um Einsteins Wegweiser durch den Raum. Sie werden die Formel für jedes jemals geschossene Foto kennenlernen und sich Ihrer eigenen Erbsubstanz nähern. Das Chaos im Karpfenteich zeigt, warum die oft so fremd erscheinende Welt der Mathematik Ihnen viel näher und vertrauter ist, als Sie es sich bisher vorstellen konnten.

This is the perfect introduction for those who have a lingering fear of maths. If you think that maths is difficult, confusing, dull or just plain scary, then The Maths Handbook is your ideal companion. Covering all the basics including fractions, equations, primes, squares and square roots, geometry and fractals, Dr Richard Elwes will lead you gently towards a greater understanding of this fascinating subject. Even apparently daunting concepts are explained simply, with the assistance of useful diagrams, and with a refreshing lack of jargon. So whether you're an adult or a student, whether you like Sudoku but hate doing sums, or whether you've always been daunted by numbers at work, school or in everyday life, you won't find a better way of overcoming your nervousness about numbers and learning to enjoy making the most of mathematics.

What can we learn from fish in a pond? How do social networks connect the world? How can artificial intelligences learn? Why would life be different in a mirror universe? Mathematics is everywhere, whether we are aware of it or not. Exploring the subject through 35 of its often odd and unexpected applications, this book provides an insight into the 'hidden wiring' that governs our world. From the astonishing theorems that control computers to the formulae behind stocks and shares, and from the foundations of the internet to the maths behind medical imaging, Chaotic Fishponds and Mirror Universes explains how mathematics determines every aspect of our lives - right down to the foundations of our bodies.

Can you outrun a bullet? How do you build an electronic brain? Could you slow down time? How do you unleash chaos? From Plato's classification of regular polyhedra to making a million on the stock market, How to Solve the Da Vinci Code gives you everything you need to understand how numbers work, and the impact they have on our lives every day.