The Big Bang of Numbers: How to Build the Universe Using Only Maths

Description

Picture yourself at a starting point before anything exists - no matter, no cosmos, not even empty space. Your task is to create the universe, but all you have to work with is, quite literally, "nothing." How do you proceed? This is the thought experiment The Big Bang of Numbers invites you into, as an original and completely accessible way to appreciate mathematics. An experiment in which you'll build all the numbers out of nothing, then construct space using these numbers, and then, through a natural progression of mathematical creations, be able to design everything else your universe needs! Whether you're a novice at math or an expert, the journey will reveal to you secret lives of numbers you may never have imagined, unexpected geometries that might actually describe the space you physically live in, underlying patterns that tie together humble lifeforms and enormous galaxies. You'll experience the playful, game-like nature of the subject mathematicians adore, while also seeing how such abstract games manifest themselves in concrete examples from nature and real life. How math not only gives rise to such essential qualities as randomness and beauty, but also informs the Big Questions humans grapple with - the nature of knowledge, the origin of life. Above all, how mathematics, more than God or physics, is the life-force of the universe, the exuberant, irrepressible power that guides every facet of existence. Distilled from almost four decades of teaching experience, and written in a lively, irreverent style that is consistently engaging and lucid, The Big Bang of Numbers will appeal to both math-savvy audiences and beginners - to anyone, in fact, who wants to learn more about math or who wants new ways to motivate math learning in others.

Manil Suri was born in Bombay in 1959 and is a professor of mathematics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He has written two novels, The Death of Vishnu and The Age of Shiva. His fiction has been translated into twenty-seven languages, longlisted for the Booker Prize, shortlisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award, LA Times Book Award, PEN/Hemingway Award and the W H Smith Literary Award, and has won the McKittrick Prize and the Barnes & Noble Discover Award. He was named by Time magazine as a 'Person to Watch' in 2000. He lives in Maryland, USA.

A beautifully written meditation on mathematics: whimsical, thought-provoking and deep * Alex Bellos, author of Alex's Adventures in Numberland * Who knew numbers could be so charming? So industrious? Suri takes us on a light-hearted journey all the way from nothing (zero) to infinity. Math has rarely been so readable. * Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves * In The Big Bang of Numbers, Manil Suri invites the reader to create a universe made of mathematical ideas, sparking a thrill that may catch you off guard-an exhilarating sensation of playfulness, power, and insight. * Steven Strogatz, New York Times bestselling author of Infinite Powers and The Joy of X * Numerophobic? This infinitely fascinating book will cure you ... Manil Suri's march through maths is brimming with entertaining and yet discombobulating thoughts ... Suri has a knack for clarity and a welcome habit of grounding tricky concepts in the tangible * The Times * A most unusual, creative, and fascinating account of mathematics that relies not on equations or formulas, but on metaphors, paradoxes, and lovely vignettes. * John Allen Paulos, author of Innumeracy and A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper * A delightful ride of a book. Before I knew it, I was rooting for primes, doubting the wisdom of dividing by zero, and holding my breath as the universe starts to emerge from triangles and cones and planes. The book was so enjoyable and understandable, it almost made me want to take another stab at calculus. Almost. Proof that when a smart person who writes well and honestly explores their passion, that passion is contagious. * Ken Krimstein, author of When I Grow Up * An excellent new book that could make anyone fall in love with math * Washingtonian *