The King of Infinite Space: Euclid and His Elements
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.93 (594 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0465065716 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 192 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-11-11 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
The system of shapes and space it describes is at once so powerful and so natural that it has intrigued men and women for centuries, and continues to be taught in classrooms around the world. For more than two thousand years, geometry has been equated with Euclid’s Elements, the world’s first mathematical treatise. The circumstances under which Euclid composed the Elements remain largely unknown, and the details of his life have long since vanished. . In The King of Infinite Space, David Berlinski pays homage to Euclid and the vision that he created, showing how Euclid has achieved a hold on our imagination for reasons that go beyond the details of his proofs. But through his masterpiece, Euclidand the mathematical tradition he establishedhave achieved immortality. Euclid provided mathematicians with a way of life, a technique of proceeding
Arash Farzaneh said A Difficult but Rewarding Book. If you are already familiar with Euclid's work or if you really like math and geometry, then this book will be delightful and delicious. For those, who like me, shy away from math, it is a rather arduous process. And do not be fooled by the length of the book; there is a lot of condensed thought and reflection that have gone into it.I cannot say that I fully enjoyed this book, nor would I say that I disliked it. In fact, it made me think, and it awoke my curiosity not only for Euclid, the man and the work, but also for the field of geometry itself and that is quite a feat!Even if you do not . "Who knew reading about geometry could be so riveting" according to Mark Twain. As a fan of David Berlinski's Devil's Delusion, I found myself drawn to dip into this fascinating book om Euclid. I was rewarded with Berlinski's clarity and wit, his elegant writing style. He converted me to a newfound interest in mathematics. Anyone would pick this book up with pleasure and leave it with regret. Mary Karr. Very interesting book; not for the total novice GM This is not the book to learn Euclidean Geometry. It requires some basic knowledge of Mathematics; it is not a fast read. It is a good discussion of some of the assumptions and limitations of Euclidean Geometry. One of the points it makes is to show how, for all the reputation for being a logically rigorous system in which all assumptions are defined and justified; Euclidean Geometry includes a good dose of plain "common sense" and "self-evident truths" baked into its foundations. The book also moves on to discussing other geometries, of which one gets a flavor, but not much more. The style
David Berlinski holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University and has taught mathematics and philosophy at universities in the United States and in France. A senior fellow at the Discovery Institute in Seattle and a former fellow at the Institute for Applied Systems Analysis and the Institut des Hautes Études
An impressively concise distillation of the wizardry that transforms points, lines, and planes into sheer genius. In writing at once geometrically precise and disarmingly conversational, Berlinski explores the imposing edifice that Euclid erected on a foundation of just five deceptively simple axioms. Readers thus come to realize how Euclid’s pioneering thought made possible the rigor of a mathematical proof—and the discipline of a mathematical life. Only an author who thinks both mathematically and philosophically could infer—as Berlinski does—the intellectual and even moral substance of the mental perspective that Euclid unfolds.