Klein Project Blog

January’s Book of the Month is Famous Problems in Mathematics by Heinrich Tietze, first published in German in 1959, and republished in 1990 by DTV. An English translation published by Graylock Press in 1964. The preface contains a beautiful metaphor and explanation of the nature of mathematical learning.

The original work is entitled Gelöste und ungelöste mathematische Probleme aus alter und neuer Zeit.
The full English translation has the title Famous Problems of Mathematics: Solved and Unsolved Mathematical Problems from Antiquity to Modern Times.

December’s Book of the Month is The Pythagorean Theorem: A 4000-year History by Eli Moar, published in 2007 by Princeton Science Library.

This is the third book that celebrates a famous equation, in this case one that is so well known that it needs little introduction. However, its history pre-dates Pythagoras by over 1000 years, and traces through many cultures.

November’s Book of the Month is Euler’s Gem: The Polyhedron Formula and the Birth of Topology by David Richeson, published in 2008 by Princeton University Press.
(Adapted from the Amazon description)
Leonhard Euler’s polyhedron formula describes the structure of many objects–from soccer balls and gemstones to Buckminster Fuller’s buildings and giant all-carbon molecules. From ancient Greek geometry to today’s cutting-edge research, Euler’s Gem celebrates the formula’s far-reaching impact on topology, the study of shapes. David Richeson tells how Descartes almost discovered it but fell short; how nineteenth-century mathematicians widened the formula’s scope for use with higher dimensional shapes; and how twentieth-century mathematicians discovered that every shape has its own Euler’s formula.

October’s Book of the Month is : A Biography of the World’s Most Famous Equation by David Bodanis. First published in 2003 by Walker and Company, paperback published 2001 by Berkley.
(Adapted from the Amazon description)
Beginning by introducing each of the equation’s letters and symbols, Bodanis brings it to life historically, making clear the astonishing array of discoveries and consequences it made possible. It would prove to be a beacon throughout the twentieth century, coming to inform our daily lives, governing everything from the atomic bomb to the carbon dating of prehistoric paintings.

The September Book of the Month adds to the collection of books on particular “numbers” from last month:
Gamma: Exploring Euler’s constant by Julian Havil, published in 2003 by Princeton Science Library
and
Brief History of Infinity: The quest to think the unthinkable by Brian Clegg, published in 2003 by Constable and Robinson.

If readers of this blog know of other titles that would fit in this list of “Books about Numbers” please email b.barton@auckland.ac.nz. Please note that the Book of the Month is only used for books that have been in print for at least ten years.