Name: Euclid's Window
ISBN: 9780713996340

Euclid's Window

Physicist/writer Mlodinow leads us on a journey through five revolutions in geometry, from the Greek concept of parallel lines to the latest notions of hyperspace. Here is a new alternative history of math revealing how simple questions anyone might ask about space have been the hidden engine of the highest achievements in science and technology. The journey goes from Pythagoras through Gauss and Einstein and into the midst of a new revolution in which scientists are recognizing that all the varied and wondrous forces of nature can be understood through geometry--a weird new geometry of extra, twisted dimensions, in which space and time, matter and energy, are all intertwined and revealed as consequences of a deep, underlying structure of the universe. This book, a blend of rigorous, authoritative investigation and accessible, good-humored storytelling, makes an original argument asserting the primacy of geometry.--From publisher description.

What Hacker News says

vmurthyMay 2022

As a dad to a 7 year old (and another one on the way :)) , I find the following books wonderful. They evoke wonder in me and hopefully I will be able to transmit some of this to the kids .

1. Euclid's Window

2. Music of the primes

thread

eyeundersandNov 2020

I assume you might be looking for books of a similar (technical) flavour, of which I don't have too many to recommend, I'm afraid. However, here's some (across different genres) that are in my memory at this moment:

Finance/statistics : The Black Swan by Nicholas Nassim Taleb The Drunkards Walk by Leonard Mlodinow

Math/science history : Euclid's Window by Leonard Mlodinow A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

Physics: Newton's Principia for the Common Reader by S. Chandrasekhar

Lit: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Philosophy: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki Any of the upanishads but probably Kena Upanishad, Isha Upanishad, or Prashna Upanishad at first (selected for (relative) ease in readership by yours truly) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig (for a gentle introduction into Eastern thought)

I'm missing countless others but this is what I have right now. Thanks for the prompt and happy reading! :)

thread

jimmy1Feb 2019

I liked the Better Explained books, particularly for Calculus, as it really explained the "why"

For Linear Algebra, "Linear Algebra Done Right" -- way better than my college lin alg course.

For "general mathematics", I like books that read almost like novels to really grasp the "why" of mathematics, so these are more to embellish your general understanding of "what is the point" type questions -- so things here like Euclid's Window come to mind, and "An Imaginary Tale: The story of square root minus one" will help explain complex numbers in more detail than you ever cared. Reading about the history of mathematics and the writings of some of the greats, like Rene Descartes, Lehonard Euler, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Issac Newton (the amazing thing is all these greats lived within a century of each other)

thread

KirinDaveSep 2017

Predictably Irrational is essentially required reading for anyone who is making decisions for a product.

The Information by James Gleick. Remember, Africa has had long range, distributed, fault tolerant wireless communication networks since before Europe had reliable clocks.

Euclid's Window by Mlodonow. The entire arc of history in a sweeping curve towards, ultimately, machine learning.

Reading Doc Smith's lensmen series (particularly the chronologically first 2) helped me recognize how very much pop science culture shapes perception. A futurist in the 20s thinking about interstellar travel has delightfuly different ideas. Wrong ideas, but hey.

Peter Hamilton's sci-fi, particularly the 6 Commonwealth Books: they're so different and so surprising and very happy to present a glowing and balelful view of capitalism in an expansionist universe.

Everyone in the west should.be required to read Ways of Seeing by Berger.

thread

JohnDotAwesomeMar 2016

I listened to Bill Bryson's self-narrated (and truncated) version of A Short History of Nearly Everything. It was my first time listening to an author self-narrating their book. It's probably one of my favorite narrations (I've got over 120 audiobooks under my belt now). Bryson set the bar pretty high.

Then I listened to Leonard Mlodinow's "The Upright Thinkers"; Oh god. Euclid's Window by Mlodinow was absolutely fantastic, and it was narrated by the slightly pompous-sounding -- but fitting -- Robert Blumenfield. Leonard had a somewhat slow, drawling voice, and he often stumbled over words. This was pretty disappointing because he seems like such a smart dude. He just shouldn't narrate his own books :)

thread