Status
Available
Call number
Publication
St. Martin's Press (1976), Edition: 19th ed., 208 pages
Description
The history of pi, says the author, though a small part of the history of mathematics, is nevertheless a mirror of the history of man. Petr Beckmann holds up this mirror, giving the background of the times when pi made progress -- and also when it did not, because science was being stifled by militarism or religious fanaticism.
User reviews
LibraryThing member NielsenGW
Beckmann’s approach to this much-written history is novel at best. He starts from a social and historical vantage point and recreates the math from scratch. Although at times, highly mathematical (as any history of pi must be), it entertains nonetheless. He ends with a tangent on the computer age
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(note: this book was originally written in 1971) and its potential pitfalls. A good quick read. Show Less
LibraryThing member lidaskoteina
a bit of a rant, with (to my mind) needless disparagement of aristotle (among others). a somewhat irritating and inconsistent bias toward the practical ("There is no practical or scientific value in knowing more than the 17 decimal places...", p.101). digs up many interesting facts (i hope they are
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facts) about the discovery and calculation of π. some sections (eg computer capabilities, c.1970) dated by now. Show Less
LibraryThing member ASBiskey
This book is exactly what it says: a history of pi from ropes in wet sand to computers. It is a little dated at almost fourty years old, but considering the thousands of years of mathematical history, it covers the developments of the calculation of pi very well. The author is opinionated, but that
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does not affect his thoroughness. There are numerous geometric proofs and formulous throughout, but they support the text without being the focus. The writing is straight forward and factual. I thought this was an excellent presentation of the subject. Show Less
LibraryThing member joe.dane
A very strange book. Enjoyable overall, but filled with non sequiturs and rants against people (Aristotle, Romans) and ideas (socialism) that that author, who must have been a real character, doesn't like.
LibraryThing member melydia
I like books about the history of math and numbers, but this one was a bit of a slog at times. Lots of equations. It also was strangely dated, what with the author's frequent scathing commentary on the USSR. He also feels a strong hatred for the Romans. Putting all that aside, there are some really
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interesting nuggets here and there, but in general I imagine this book would only appeal to the truly diehard number nerds. Show Less
LibraryThing member argyriou
Beckmann makes math history entertaining by setting it in a larger historical context, and liberally lacing the story with his own political opinions.
As one of the most important numbers in mathematics, π really does need its own history, and Beckmann gives a good overview of mathematicians'
His history is geographically complete, at least as complete as the records are available; aside from the Near Eastern and Greek attempts at calculating π, he discusses Chinese, Japanese, and Mayan knowledge of π, to the extent that there are surviving records.
Beckmann's writing style is clear, and while he does include a good deal of math, the story still flows if the reader skips over the harder parts.
As one of the most important numbers in mathematics, π really does need its own history, and Beckmann gives a good overview of mathematicians'
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attempts to approximate or calculate π throughout history. His story is not just one of abstract mathematical endeavor, however; he sets those mathematical advances in their social and political context. His history is geographically complete, at least as complete as the records are available; aside from the Near Eastern and Greek attempts at calculating π, he discusses Chinese, Japanese, and Mayan knowledge of π, to the extent that there are surviving records.
Beckmann's writing style is clear, and while he does include a good deal of math, the story still flows if the reader skips over the harder parts.
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LibraryThing member aaronslist
Too much politics, not enough math history.
LibraryThing member encephalical
This is one of the weirdest books I've ever read, certainly the weirdest math book. Sure, it covers the history of calculating approximations of pi from Antiquity to the mid 20th century, but it also has an entire chapter devoted to the thuggery of the Roman empire; asides on the sex life of
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Catherine the Great; an apparently made up Latin quote from Empress Maria Therese's doctor on manually stimulating the clitorem ante coitum; condemnations of the Asiatic Soviets; another section on how much of an idiot Aristotle was... almost every page had something that made me stop and go "wait, what the hell was that?" Show Less
LibraryThing member setnahkt
Dr. Beckmann wasn’t known for being afraid of saying what he felt, dissing Aristotle, Julius Caesar, the medieval Catholic Church, and Stalin (who he never dignifies with a mention by name, but simply calls “the Soviet Jenghiz Khan”; I personally think this is something of an insult to
Although Beckmann claims the book is nonmathematical, it’s chock full of geometry, algebra, trigonometry and calculus; I really need to read it again while equipped with AutoSketch and MathCAD, to follow some of the derivations. There are a few claims – for example, that late medieval Florentine bankers were forbidden to use infidel Arabic numerals and that a Spaniard was burned at the stake for claiming to have solved a quartic equation – where I would like to check the footnotes. However, there is one well-documented debunking of an urban legend – that the Indiana legislature once nearly voted to make π equal to 3 based on the Biblical reference in II Kings 7. What Beckmann uncovered is nearly as interesting; Edwin J. Goodwin of Solitude, Indiana, had succeeded in squaring the circle and many other interesting geometrical problems, and offered his new mathematics textbook to the State of Indiana royalty-free if they adopted his value for π. The bill made it to a second reading before it was intercepted by a visiting mathematics professor and tabled. The irony here is that the language of the bill is so complicated that it isn’t clear exactly what value Goodwin was proposing; as near as Beckmann can make it out it’s 16√3, which would have made pi about 9.2376 – as Beckmann notes, the most serious overestimate in the history of mathematics.
A lot of useful capsule biographies of eminent historic mathematicians, so it’s a valuable little book even if you don’t follow – or don’t want to follow – the math. In case you want to calculate the diameter of the universe to the nearest nanometer, the first 10000 digits of pi are included in the endpapers. Recommended.
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Genghis Khan).Although Beckmann claims the book is nonmathematical, it’s chock full of geometry, algebra, trigonometry and calculus; I really need to read it again while equipped with AutoSketch and MathCAD, to follow some of the derivations. There are a few claims – for example, that late medieval Florentine bankers were forbidden to use infidel Arabic numerals and that a Spaniard was burned at the stake for claiming to have solved a quartic equation – where I would like to check the footnotes. However, there is one well-documented debunking of an urban legend – that the Indiana legislature once nearly voted to make π equal to 3 based on the Biblical reference in II Kings 7. What Beckmann uncovered is nearly as interesting; Edwin J. Goodwin of Solitude, Indiana, had succeeded in squaring the circle and many other interesting geometrical problems, and offered his new mathematics textbook to the State of Indiana royalty-free if they adopted his value for π. The bill made it to a second reading before it was intercepted by a visiting mathematics professor and tabled. The irony here is that the language of the bill is so complicated that it isn’t clear exactly what value Goodwin was proposing; as near as Beckmann can make it out it’s 16√3, which would have made pi about 9.2376 – as Beckmann notes, the most serious overestimate in the history of mathematics.
A lot of useful capsule biographies of eminent historic mathematicians, so it’s a valuable little book even if you don’t follow – or don’t want to follow – the math. In case you want to calculate the diameter of the universe to the nearest nanometer, the first 10000 digits of pi are included in the endpapers. Recommended.
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LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba
This a well written book that sits at the edge of math and history. Its genius is in the tone. Mr Beckmann is an opinionated fellow (don't ask him for his thoughts on the United Nations), but his arguments are intelligent, well put together, and easy to understand.
As for the math, I understood the
I also was very impressed that he he didn't neglect what was happening in Asia- for the time it was written (1970's), it would have taken a lot of research to get this information.
One last thing, the time the book was written, computers were nowhere near what they are in today. It took about 28 hours to calculate pi to 250,000 places. I suspect the laptop I'm typing this on can do it in a few minutes. This doesn't detract from the book, but adds to the charm. It's amazing how far we've come, technology wise, in the last 50 years.
As for the math, I understood the
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first half. The second half I usually got the concepts, but the actual math was beyond me. The illustrations of the principals were actually useful and placed in a spot that fit the narrative. I also was very impressed that he he didn't neglect what was happening in Asia- for the time it was written (1970's), it would have taken a lot of research to get this information.
One last thing, the time the book was written, computers were nowhere near what they are in today. It took about 28 hours to calculate pi to 250,000 places. I suspect the laptop I'm typing this on can do it in a few minutes. This doesn't detract from the book, but adds to the charm. It's amazing how far we've come, technology wise, in the last 50 years.
Show Less
LibraryThing member lidaskoteina
a bit of a rant, with (to my mind) needless disparagement of aristotle (among others). a somewhat irritating and inconsistent bias toward the practical ("There is no practical or scientific value in knowing more than the 17 decimal places...", p.101). digs up many interesting facts (i hope they are
Show More
facts) about the discovery and calculation of π. some sections (eg computer capabilities, c.1970) dated by now(2008). Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1971
Physical description
208 p.; 8.25 inches
ISBN
9780312381851