| Edition |
1st Vintage pbk. ed. |
| Description |
xvii, 331 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm |
|
text txt rdacontent |
|
unmediated n rdamedia |
|
volume nc rdacarrier |
| Note |
Includes index. |
| Contents |
Masters of the symbols -- Symbols of the masters -- The black blossoms of geometry -- Cartesian coordinates -- The unbearable smoothness of motion -- Yo -- Thirteen ways of looking at a line -- The doctor of discovery -- Real world rising -- Forever familiar, forever unknown -- Some famous functions -- Speed of sorts -- Speed, strange speed -- Paris days -- Prague interlude -- Memory of motion -- The dimpled shoulder -- Wrong way Rolle -- The mean value of theorem -- The song of Igor -- Area -- Those legos vanish -- The integral wishes to compute an area -- The integral wishes to become a function -- A farewell to continuity -- Epilogue. |
| Summary |
"The calculus represents humanity's great and profound meditation on the theme of continuity. Time and space are given voice, and speed and area are subordinated to the harsh concept of a limit. The introduction of the real numbers allows the landscape of mathematical analysis to be suffused with thrilling light. In that lit-up landscape, the infinite is for the first time charmed into compliance, men and women gaining the eerie power to ask of certain processes, Suppose it goes on forever, what then? and finding within the calculus a comprehensive answer." "In clear and instructive language David Berlinski explains the concept of limits, how a function describes a relationship between numbers, and the meaning of the real numbers and their role in the re-creation of the world. Hidden for centuries from human insight, an array of mathematical operations and processes become visible." "Berlinski's great achievement is that he not only breathes life into the principles of the calculus but reveals as well processes that occur in the real world. And moving beyond the basics, Berlinski shows us in dramatic and original ways that the calculus is more than a mere system of mathematics. It is also an instrument commensurate at last with humanity's limitless capacity to regard the universe with wonder."--Jacket. |
| Subject |
Calculus -- Popular works.
|
|
Calculus. (OCoLC)fst00844119
|
| Genre/Form |
Popular works. (OCoLC)fst01423846
|
| ISBN |
0679747885 |
|
9780679747888 |
|
0676520413 |
|
9780676520415 |
|
