From Zero to Infinity is a combination of number lore, number history, and sparkline descriptions of the simply stated but exceedingly difficult problems posed by the most ordinary numbers. The book first appeared in print in 1955 and has been kept in print continuously ever since. With this fifth edition this classic has been updated to report on advances in number theory over the last fifty years, including the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. Deceptively simple in style and structure, it is a book to which the reader will return again and again, gaining greater understanding and satisfaction with each reading.
Industry Reviews
" Zero To Infinity is a sequence of rare beauty, a drama built out of nothing but numbers---and imagination." -Freeman Dyson, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, November 2005 "...in a delightful way it... get others interested in the fascinating theory of numbers." -John Leamy, Mathematics Teacher, March 1993 book singular for its insight into the imagination, relevance and sheer excitement of mathematics." -Kirkus Bulliten, Kirkus Bulliten , November 2005 "Upon reading this edition anew, I was struck by its superb mathematical taste." "I knew I was meant to spend my life loving numbers and working with them; From Zero to Infinity crucially told me that there was a large community of People of Number I could hope to join when I grew up... As I got older, I continued to read From Zero to Infinity and the other influential math books I knew; ... I was truly fortunate to have run across From Zero to Infinity when I did." -Bruce Reznick, Notices of the AMS, February 2007 "This book should be in the library of every mathematics teacher, and university faculty who prepare students to teach mathematics should also own this book. " -Murray H. Siegel, Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, February 2007 ein Buch nach 50 Jahren in funften Auflage erscheint, so spricht vieles fur seine Qualitat. Tatsachlich ist es spannend zu lesen, und uber weite Strecken reichen schulische Mathematikkenntnisse aus Der Inhalt wurde inzwishen erweitert und vor allem, was die Suche nach grossen Primzahlen betrifft, erganzt. Es handelt sich um eine geschickt formulierte Mischung aus der Geschichte der Mathematik und einer Einfuhrung in mathematisches Denken. Ein Beispiel genuge: Im Kapitel Eight wird die Zahl 8 als 8 = 2 * 2 * 2 eingefuhrt und dann auf die Darstellung der Kuben als Summe aufeinanderfolgender ungerader Zahlen hingewiesen, die auf Nikomachos zuruchgeht. Aber letztlich landet man beim Waringschen Problem und seiner Geschichte." -F. Schweiger, Internationale Mathematische Nachrichten, December 2007 Zero to Infinity is a combination of number lore, number theory, and sparkling descriptions of the simply stated but exceedingly difficult problems posed by the most ordinary numbers, that first appeared in 1955 and has been kept in print continuously ever since. With the fifth edition this classic has been updated to report on advances in number theory over the last 50 years, including the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. Deceptively simple in style and structure, it is a book to which the reader will return again and again, gaining greater understanding and satisfaction with each reading." -L'Enseignement Mathematique, January 2006"
