The Universe in Zero Words
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Looks at the history of twenty-four equations that have shaped the history of mathematics, science, and civilization.
Princeton University Press
Most popular books about science, and even about mathematics, tiptoe around equations as if they were something
… More »Looks at the history of twenty-four equations that have shaped the history of mathematics, science, and civilization.
Princeton University Press
Most popular books about science, and even about mathematics, tiptoe around equations as if they were something to be hidden from the reader's tender eyes. Dana Mackenzie starts from the opposite premise: He celebrates equations. No history of art would be complete without pictures. Why, then, should a history of mathematics--the universal language of science--keep the masterpieces of the subject hidden behind a veil?
The Universe in Zero Words tells the history of twenty-four great and beautiful equations that have shaped mathematics, science, and society--from the elementary (1+1=2) to the sophisticated (the Black-Scholes formula for financial derivatives), and from the famous (E=mc2) to the arcane (Hamilton's quaternion equations). Mackenzie, who has been called "a popular-science ace" by Booklist magazine, lucidly explains what each equation means, who discovered it (and how), and how it has affected our lives.
Illustrated in color throughout, the book tells the human and often-surprising stories behind the invention or discovery of the equations, from how a bad cigar changed the course of quantum mechanics to why whales (if they could communicate with us) would teach us a totally different concept of geometry. At the same time, the book shows why these equations have something timeless to say about the universe, and how they do it with an economy (zero words) that no other form of human expression can match.
The Universe in Zero Words is the ultimate introduction and guide to equations that have changed the world.
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Add a SummaryDana MacKenzie, a mathematician with a doctorate from Princeton University, discusses important equations drawn from pure and applied mathematics in a book intended for the lay reader. He divides the book into four chronologically based sections: antiquity, the age of exploration, the 19th century, and the 20th century. MacKenzie states each equation and discusses its meaning, historical context, and importance in mathematics, physics, or finance. Topics include arithmetic; zero; the Pythagorean Theorem; pi; Zeno's paradoxes and the meaning of infinity; Archimedes' law of the lever; the solution of the cubic equation by radicals; Kepler's laws of planetary motion; Fermat's Last Theorem; the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus; Newton's laws of motion; Euler's theorems; Hamilton's quaternions; group theory; non-Euclidean geometry; the prime number theorem; Fourier series; Maxwell's equations of electricity and magnetism; the photoelectric effect and relativity; Dirac's formula (quantum mechanics); the Chern-Gauss-Bonnet equation; the Continuum Hypothesis; the Lorenz equations (chaos); the Black-Scholes equations for financial derivatives.
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Add a CommentThe title of Dana MacKenzie's book, The Universe in Zero Words: The Story of Mathematics as Told Through Equations, is ironic. The book, which is intended for the lay reader, is comprised almost entirely of words. MacKenzie, a mathematician with a doctorate from Princeton University, states each equation, then discusses its meaning, historical context, and importance. The exposition is brief, lucid, and qualitative. One caveat: MacKenzie has a tendency to dismiss historical anecdotes about mathematical discoveries without making clear how he came to his conclusions. While MacKenzie provides a bibliography, he does not include footnotes or endnotes. Lay readers will find this book more accessible than Ian Stewart's similarly themed In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World. Both books are worth reading.