Math Without Numbers

**An illustrated tour of the structures and patterns we call "math"**__Math Without Numbers____Flatland____Godel, Escher, Bach____Math Without Numbers__ An illustrated tour of the structures and patterns we call math The only numbers in this book are the page numbers. Math Without Numbers is a vivid, conversational, and wholly original guide to the three main branches of abstract math--topology, analysis, and algebra--which turn out to be surprisingly easy to grasp. This book upends the conventional approach to math, inviting you to think creatively about shape and dimension, the infinite and infinitesimal, symmetries, proofs, and how these concepts all fit together. What awaits readers is a freewheeling tour of the inimitable joys and unsolved mysteries of this curiously powerful subject. Like the classic math allegory Flatland , first published over a century ago, or Douglas Hofstadter's Godel, Escher, Bach forty years ago, there has never been a math book quite like Math Without Numbers . So many popularizations of math have dwelt on numbers like pi or zero or infinity. This book goes well beyond to questions such as: How many shapes are there? Is anything bigger than infinity? And is math even true? Milo Beckman shows why math is mostly just pattern recognition and how it keeps on surprising us with unexpected, useful connections to the real world. The ambitions of this book take a special kind of author. An inventive, original thinker pursuing his calling with jubilant passion. A prodigy. Milo Beckman completed the graduate-level course sequence in mathematics at age sixteen, when he was a sophomore at Harvard; while writing this book, he was studying the philosophical foundations of physics at Columbia under Brian Greene, among others. 'meet Milo Beckman, The Whizz-kid Making Maths Supercool. . . A Brilliant Book That Takes Everything We Know (and Fear) About Maths Out Of The Equation - Starting With Numbers' The Times 'a Cheerful, Chatty, And Charming Trip Through The World Of Mathematics. . . Everyone Should Read This Delightful Book' Ian Stewart, Author Of Do Dice Play God? The Only Numbers In This Book Are The Page Numbers. The Three Main Branches Of Abstract Math - Topology, Analysis, And Algebra - Turn Out To Be Surprisingly Easy To Grasp. Or At Least, They Are When Our Guide Is A Math Prodigy. With Forthright Wit And Warm Charm, Milo Beckman Upends The Conventional Approach To Mathematics, Inviting Us To Think Creatively About Shape And Dimension, The Infinite And The Infinitesimal, Symmetries, Proofs, And All How All These Concepts Fit Together. Why Is There A Million Dollar Prize For Counting Shapes? Is Anything Bigger Than Infinity? And How Is The 'truth' Of Mathematics Actually Decided? A Vivid And Wholly Original Guide To The Math That Makes The World Tick And The Planets Revolve, Math Without Numbers Makes Human And Understandable The Elevated And Hypothetical, Allowing Us To Clearly See Abstract Math For What It Is: Bizarre, Beautiful, And Head-scratchingly Wonderful. 'The whizz-kid making maths supercool. . . A brilliant book that takes everything we know (and fear) about maths out of the equation - starting with numbers' The Times 'A cheerful, chatty, and charming trip through the world of mathematics. . . Everyone should read this delightful book' Ian Stewart, author of Do Dice Play God? The only numbers in this book are the page numbers. The three main branches of abstract math - topology, analysis, and algebra - turn out to be surprisingly easy to grasp. Or at least, they are when our guide is a math prodigy. With forthright wit and warm charm, Milo Beckman upends the conventional approach to mathematics, inviting us to think creatively about shape and dimension, the infinite and the infinitesimal, symmetries, proofs, and all how all these concepts fit together. Why is there a million dollar prize for counting shapes? Is anything bigger than infinity? And how is the 'truth' of mathematics actually decided? A vivid and wholly original guide to the math that makes the world tick and the planets revolve, Math Without Number s makes human and understandable the elevated and hypothetical, allowing us to clearly see abstract math for what it is: bizarre, beautiful, and head-scratchingly wonderful. "Math Without Numbers is an illustrated, lucidly written guide to nothing less than the three fields of inquiry at the highest level of mathematical thinking. This book is a spaceship taking you to a magical world of unerring truth and endless adventure"-- Provided by publisher