Euclid's Window : The Story of Geometry from Parallel Lines to Hyperspace
Type
Book
Authors
ISBN 10
0684865246
ISBN 13
9780684865249
Category
Unknown
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Publication Year
2002
Publisher
Pages
320
Tags
Description
From the librarian:
"Euclid's Window" gives the reader an overview of the development of geometry, starting naturally with Euclid's Elements, the geometry that is typically thought of when we hear the word. Euclid's Elements was the first attempt to describe build a foundation of mathematics through a combination of axioms, postulates, and proofs. The author, begins by describing for us the most famous and problematic of Euclid's postulates, "The Parallel Postulate", and describes how many over history of sought, and failed, to prove the postulate, to turn it into a theorem instead of an assumption.
Mlodinow takes us on a journey through the history of geometry, and how our understanding of space began with an "obvious" understanding of space being governed by straight lines, to the discovery and development of non-Euclidian geometries: hyperbolic space, elliptic space, and space-time curvature, and eventually to string theory. Mlodinow is able to convey to the reader the essential elements and arguments so that the reader is able to grasp and how our understanding of geometry has changed away from an assumption about straight lines and continues to expand into various forms of curved spaces. Mlodinow's descriptions of Einstein's theories of special relativity and general relativity made Einstein's geometric calculations of space-time accessible to this librarian for the first time!
Mlodinow tells this story using a combination of humor, sarcasm, and stories about his children (who are often the characters in his thought experiments). A fun and enlightening read!
From the back of the book:
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. Here is an altogether new, refreshing, alternative history of math revealing how simple questions anyone might ask about space - in the living room or in some other galaxy - have been the hidden engine of the highest achievements in science and technology.
Based on Mlodinow's extensive historical research; his studies along side colleagues such as Richard Feynman and Kip Thorne; and interview with leading physicists and mathematician's such as Murray Gell-Mann, Edward Witten, and Brian Greene, "Euclid's Window" is an extraordinary blend of rigourous, authoritative investigation and accessible, good-humored storytelling that makes a stunningly original argument asserting the primacy of geometry.
For those who have looked through "Euclid's Window", no space, no thing, and no time will ever be quite the same.
"Euclid's Window" gives the reader an overview of the development of geometry, starting naturally with Euclid's Elements, the geometry that is typically thought of when we hear the word. Euclid's Elements was the first attempt to describe build a foundation of mathematics through a combination of axioms, postulates, and proofs. The author, begins by describing for us the most famous and problematic of Euclid's postulates, "The Parallel Postulate", and describes how many over history of sought, and failed, to prove the postulate, to turn it into a theorem instead of an assumption.
Mlodinow takes us on a journey through the history of geometry, and how our understanding of space began with an "obvious" understanding of space being governed by straight lines, to the discovery and development of non-Euclidian geometries: hyperbolic space, elliptic space, and space-time curvature, and eventually to string theory. Mlodinow is able to convey to the reader the essential elements and arguments so that the reader is able to grasp and how our understanding of geometry has changed away from an assumption about straight lines and continues to expand into various forms of curved spaces. Mlodinow's descriptions of Einstein's theories of special relativity and general relativity made Einstein's geometric calculations of space-time accessible to this librarian for the first time!
Mlodinow tells this story using a combination of humor, sarcasm, and stories about his children (who are often the characters in his thought experiments). A fun and enlightening read!
From the back of the book:
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. Here is an altogether new, refreshing, alternative history of math revealing how simple questions anyone might ask about space - in the living room or in some other galaxy - have been the hidden engine of the highest achievements in science and technology.
Based on Mlodinow's extensive historical research; his studies along side colleagues such as Richard Feynman and Kip Thorne; and interview with leading physicists and mathematician's such as Murray Gell-Mann, Edward Witten, and Brian Greene, "Euclid's Window" is an extraordinary blend of rigourous, authoritative investigation and accessible, good-humored storytelling that makes a stunningly original argument asserting the primacy of geometry.
For those who have looked through "Euclid's Window", no space, no thing, and no time will ever be quite the same.
Number of Copies
1
