How Did We Find Out About Numbers?

How Did We Find Out #4

by Isaac Asimov

Traces the origin of numbers and the development of the Roman, Egyptian, and Hindu systems of numerals.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mathematics

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Omidetunam · Rating 3 out of 5]

فهمیدن خواستگاه عدد و الفبا مثل یاد گرفتن فلسفه س.از دم دستی ترین مفهوم به کمک ریشه یابی،به بنیادی ترین مفهوم میرسیم.مثلا درخت رو تعریف میکنیم.بعد تعریف درخت رو تعریف میکنیم.بعد تعریف تعریف درخت رو تعریف میکنیم.و همینجور تا جایی پیش میریم که دیگه تعریف ناپذیر میشه.اونجا تازه فلسفه بازیش میگیره.ارسطو و سقراط و بقیه میان کشتی میگیرن.یه یارویی هم از هند میاد وسط مفهوم عدد صفر یا هیچ رو پایه ریزی میکنه.اینجور میشه که عدد نویسی متحول میشه.آسیموف میاد میگه که این تعاریف ریشه شون از کجاست.فلسفه ی اعداد

[Sergio Cavero · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had a few genuinely interesting tidbits sprinkled throughout, but honestly, it felt like a lot of filler. You'd have to be a real math fanatic to find some of these chapters truly engaging. I even got the sense that Asimov himself might have gotten bored with the topic, as the later chapters seemed to drift away from mathematics entirely and started focusing on geography. It was a bit of a letdown, feeling like it ran out of steam towards the end.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This might be great to hand to a kid who reads great but is having trouble with beginning math. Asimov shows how the numbers made life easier and where our numbers come from and what exactly each number means. He also explains the concept of zero or nothing and how useful it is. Recommended.