Infinity: The Quest to Think the Unthinkable
Distributed by Publishers Group West (2003)
| Abstract | It amazes children, as they try to count themselves out of numbers, only to discover one day that the hundreds, thousands, and zillions go on forever—to something like infinity. And anyone who has advanced beyond the bounds of basic mathematics has soon marveled at that drunken number eight lying on its side in the pages of their work. Infinity fascinates; it takes the mind beyond its everyday concerns—indeed, beyond everything—to something always more. Infinity makes even the infinite universe seem small; yet it can also be infinitesimal. Infinity thrives on paradox, and it turns the simplest arithmetic on its head, with 1 seeming feasibly to equal 0, after all. Infinity defies common sense. The contemplation of it has relieved at least two great mathematicians of their sanity. Thoroughly readable and entirely accessible, science writer Brian Clegg's lively history explores infinity in its many intriguing facets, from its ancient origins to its place today at the heart of mathematics and science. He examines infinity's paradoxes and profiles the people who first grappled with and then defined and refined them, offering information, mystery, and poetry to conceive the inconceivable and define the indefinable. | |||||||||
| Keywords | Infinite | |||||||||
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| Buy the book | Amazon page | |||||||||
| Call number | BD411.C54 2003 | |||||||||
| ISBN(s) | 0786712856 | |||||||||
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Similar books and articlesRudy vB Rucker (1982/1995). Infinity and the Mind: The Science and Philosophy of the Infinite. Princeton University Press.
Eric Steinhart (2009). A Modern Analysis of Divine Infinity. Theology and Science 7 (3):261-274.
Wolfgang Achtner (2011). Part I. Perspectives on Infinity From History : 1. Infinity as a Transformative Concept in Science and Theology. In Michał Heller & W. H. Woodin (eds.), Infinity: New Research Frontiers. Cambridge University Press.
Edward Nelson (2011). Part II. Perspectives on Infinity From Mathematics : 2. The Mathematical Infinity / Enrico Bombieri ; 3. Warning Signs of a Possible Collapse of Contemporary Mathematics. [REVIEW] In Michał Heller & W. H. Woodin (eds.), Infinity: New Research Frontiers. Cambridge University Press.
Michael Heller (2011). Part IV. Perspectives on Infinity From Physics and Cosmology : 7. Some Considerations on Infinity in Physics / Carlo Rovelli ; 8. Cosmological Intimations of Infinity / Anthony Aguirre ; 9. Infinity and the Nostalgia of the Stars/ Marco Bersanelli ; 10. Infinities in Cosmology. [REVIEW] In Michał Heller & W. H. Woodin (eds.), Infinity: New Research Frontiers. Cambridge University Press.
Denys A. Turner (2011). A Partially Skeptical Response to Hart and Russell. [REVIEW] In Michał Heller & W. H. Woodin (eds.), Infinity: New Research Frontiers. Cambridge University Press.
Eli Maor (1987/1991). To Infinity and Beyond: A Cultural History of the Infinite. Princeton University Press.
Michał Heller & W. H. Woodin (eds.) (2011). Infinity: New Research Frontiers. Cambridge University Press.
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