The Math Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained Hardcover

Mathematics builds on itself, so a reader who loses one step tends to lose the next five as well. This 352-page volume works through the subject's major ideas roughly in the order they were developed, from early counting systems and geometry to algebra, calculus, probability and the mathematics that made computing possible. Each idea is given a spread or two, with diagrams standing in for formal proofs and plain sentences standing in for notation wherever that can be done honestly. The result is a route through the history of the discipline that a non-specialist can actually follow from start to finish. On the page: • Ideas arranged in the order mathematicians developed them • Diagram-led explanations in place of formal proofs • Coverage stretching from ancient counting to modern computing • Short profiles of the mathematicians behind each advance For secondary and college students, teachers and general readers curious about mathematics, published by DK and available at Boipoka.