PENGUIN ORANGE SPINES : EUCLIDS WINDOW PB – LEONARD MLODINOW

"In Euclid s Window, Leonard Mlondinow takes us on a brilliantly entertaining journey through 3,000 years of genius and geometry, introducing the people who revolutionized the way we see the world around us. Ever since Pythagoras hatched a little scheme to invent a set of rules describing the entire universe, scientists and mathematicians have tried to seek order in the cosmos: Euclid, who in 300BC defined the nature of space; Descartes, a fourteenth-century gambler and idler who invented the graph; Gauss, the fifteen-year-old genius who discovered that space is curved; Einstein, who added time to the equation; and Witten, who ushered in today s weird new world of extra, twisted dimensions. They all show how geometry is the key to understanding the universe. Once you have viewed life through Euclid s Window, it will never be the same again… Elegant, attractive and concise … also very readable. Buy it Ian Stewart, New Scientist This is an exhilarating book … an important book … and finally, a lovely book, one that reflects the radiance of its subject David Berlinski Reader-friendly, high-spirited, splendidly lucid and often hilarious Washington Post Mlodinow has a talent for lively and clear exposition … Pythagoras proof has lost none of its capacity to astonish and delight Edward Skidelsky, Daily Telegraph Leonard Mlodinow was a member of the faculty of the Californian Institute of Technology before moving to Hollywood to become a writer for television. He has developed many best selling and award-winning CD-ROMs and is currently Vice President, Emerging Technologies and R&D at Scholastic Inc. He lives in New York City. His other books include The Drunkard s Walk and Subliminal."