Euclid's Window: The Story of Geometry from Parallel Lines to Hyperspace
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.92 (887 Votes) |
| Asin | : | B002XGLCVA |
| Format Type | : | |
| Number of Pages | : | 363 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-06-02 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
"How do you know where you are?" asks Leonard Mlodinow in his charming mathematical history, Euclid's Window. This is not just a history of geometry--it's a timeline of reason and abstraction, with all the major players present: Euclid, Descartes, Gauss, Einstein, and Witten, each represented by a minibiography. This question and others about space and time grew out of simple observations of the environment by a select group of thinkers whose lives and brains Mlodinow dissects. Starting with Euclid, geometry has flowed out over the centuries, describing the universe, and, Mlodinow argues, making modern civilization possible. Each story builds satisfactorily on the last, until at the end of this delightful book, one has a sense of having climbed a peak of understanding. A working knowledge of basic geometry is helpful but not essential for enjoying Euclid's Window, and Mlodinow's chatty style lends itself remarkably well to explaining these deep and revolutionary
For those who have looked through Euclid's Window, no space, no thing, and no time will ever be quite the same.. That modest idea was the basis of scientific civilization. It is a thrilling math of extra, twisted dimensions, in which space and time, matter and energy, are all intertwined and revealed as consequences of a deep, underlying structure of the universe. Through Euclid's Window Leonard Mlodinow brilliantly and delightfully leads us on a journey through five revolutions in geometry, from the Greek concept of parallel lines to the latest notions of hyperspace. Based on Mlodinow's extensive historical research; his studies alongside colleagues such as Richard Feynman and Kip Thorne; and interviews with leading physicists and mathematicians such as Murray Gell-Mann, Edward Witten, and Brian Greene, Euclid's Window is an extraordinary blend of rigorous, authoritative investigation and accessible, good-humored storytelling that makes a stunningly original argument asserting the primacy of geometry. Mlodinow reveals how geometry's first revolution began with a "little" scheme hatched by Pytha
LVZee said Don't Be Fooled - This Is More History of Modern Physics than Geometry. This book purports to tell "the story of geometry from parallel lines to hyperspace." The first half starts to do exactly that. Then Mlodinow seems to get bored with geometry. Starting with the chapter on Einstein, he switches over to physics. While the history of modern physics may be interesting, it has been told many times, and was not what this book was supposed to be about. He is a fluid writer, and includes lots of i. Very Good Book With An Excellent Epilogue amacust This is a very good book, much better than I expected. I thought it would be more like a college mathematics text book. Instead it is more like a novel. It is very readable and the subjects flow smoothly from one to another. I found the reading enjoyable and it kept my interest from one chapter to the next. Most of it is not too technical or abstract so it should be understandable to the general public. There are, however,. "Great back stories" according to Don Anderson. Having taught University Chemistry for many years, this book was great because it gave the back story on the lives of many of the physics/chemistry theory discoverers.Favorite quote: "This question was settled for good in 19Great back stories Having taught University Chemistry for many years, this book was great because it gave the back story on the lives of many of the physics/chemistry theory discoverers.Favorite quote: "This question was settled for good in 1931 by the shocking theorem of Kurt GÄdel: he proved that in a system of sufficient complexity, such as the theory of numbers, there must exist a statement that cannot be proved either true or falseA . 1 by the shocking theorem of Kurt GÄdel: he proved that in a system of sufficient complexity, such as the theory of numbers, there must exist a statement that cannot be proved either true or falseA