King of Infinite Space
Donald Coxeter, The Man Who Saved Geometry
Published on 1. November 2007
Book
Paperback/Softback
416 pages
978-1-84668-007-6 (ISBN)
Description
The word geometry makes one think of circles, triangles, protractors and Pythagoras. By the middle of the 20th Century it all looked dead, as the excitement in maths had moved to computers and chaos theory. But one man - Donald Coxeter - kept the torch burning, showing how geometry is at the core of all mathematics, and indeed governs our life from architecture to car design, from animated films to food molecules. He showed the importance of geometry for data mining - now the most innovative area of computer research - and showed not only how beautiful the mathematics of shape is, but also how vitally important.
Reviews / Votes
"'Tells a brave, compelling story...of kaleidoscopes and crystals, groups and symmetry, bicycles and snowflakes, music and movement. It is lucid, beautiful, and exalting.' James Gleick, author of Chaos and Faster "Her beautifully written tribute is rich in details about Coxeter's long life and his colourful interactions with the world's top mathematicians. I found it impossible to stop reading." Martin Gardner, author of The Ambidextrous Universe. "A lively view of the history of mathematics while weaving the story of Donald Coxeter, a broad-minded genius who built an important bridge between two opposite extremes of mathematical creation - the pictorial world of classical geometry and the ideal world of abstract algebra." Freeman Dyson author of Disturbing the Universe"More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 153 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
538 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84668-007-6 (9781846680076)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Siobhan Roberts won a National Magazine Award for her profile of Donald Coxeter. She lives in Toronto.