Alex's Adventures in Numberland - Alex Bellos [0]
ALEX’S ADVENTURES IN NUMBERLAND
ALEX BELLOS
For my mother and father
First published in Great Britain in 2010
Copyright © 2010 by Alex Bellos
Illustrations © 2010 by Andy Riley
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 36 Soho Square, London W1D 3QY
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Mathematical diagrams by Oxford Designers and Illustrators
All papers used by Bloomsbury Publishing are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in well-managed forests. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.
www.bloomsbury.com/alexbellos
Plate Section Picture Credits:
p. 1 (top), p. 1 (bottom), p. 6 (top), p. 6 (bottom), p. 7 (top), p. 7 (bottom), p. 12 (top), p. 15 (top), p. 15 (bottom), p. 16 (top) © Alex Bellos; pp. 2–3 SR Euclid Collection, UCL Library Services, Special Collections; p. 4 (top), p. 4 (bottom) © Robert Lang; p. 5 (top) © Eva Madrazo, 2009. Used under license from Shutterstock.com; p. 5 (bottom) © Neil Mason; p. 8 Le Casse-tête en portraits, Gandais, Paris, 1818, from the Slocum Puzzle Collection, Lilly Library; p. 9 Thanks to Jerry Slocum; p. 10 (top left), p. 10 (top right), p. 10 (bottom left), p. 10 (bottom right), p. 11 © Christopher Lane; p. 12 (bottom), p. 13 Thanks to Eddy Levin; p. 14 © FLC/ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2009; p. 16 (bottom) © Daina Taimina.
Contents
Introduction
CHAPTER ZERO
A Head for Numbers
In which the author tries to find out where numbers come from, since they haven’t been around that long. He meets a man who has lived in the jungle and a chimpanzee who has always lived in the city.
CHAPTER ONE
The Counter Culture
In which the author learns about the tyranny of ten, and the revolutionaries plotting its downfall. He goes to an after-school club in Tokyo, where the pupils learn to calculate by thinking about beads.
CHAPTER TWO
Behold!
In which the author almost changes his name because the disciple of a Greek cult leader says he must. Instead, he follows the instructions of another Greek thinker, dusts off his compass and folds two business cards into a tetrahedron.
CHAPTER THREE
Something about Nothing
In which the author travels to India for an audience with a Hindu seer. He discovers some very slow methods of arithmetic and some very fast ones.
CHAPTER FOUR
Life of Pi
In which the author is in Germany to witness the world’s fastest mental multiplication. It is a roundabout way to begin telling the story of circles, a transcendental tale that leads him to New York and a new appreciation of the 50p piece.
CHAPTER FIVE
The x-factor
In which the author explains why numbers are good but letters are better. He visits a man in Braintree who collects slide-rules and hears the tragic tale of their demise. Includes an exposition of logarithms, a dictionary of calculator words and how to make a superegg.
CHAPTER SIX
Playtime
In which the author is on a mathematical puzzle quest. He investigates the legacy of two Chinese men – one was a dim-witted recluse and the other fell off the Earth – and then flies to Oklahoma to meet a magician.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Secrets of Succession
In which the author is first confronted with the infinite. He encounters an unstoppable snail and a devilish family of numbers.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Gold Finger
In which the author meets a Londoner with a claw who claims to have discovered the secret of beautiful teeth.
CHAPTER NINE
Chance is a Fine Thing
In which the author remembers the dukes of hasard and goes gambling in Reno. He takes a walk through randomness and ends up in an office block in Newport Beach, California – where, if he looked across the ocean, he might be able to spot a lottery winner on a desert island in the South Pacific.
CHAPTER TEN
Situation Normal
In which the author’s farinaceous overindulgence is an attempt to savour the birth of statistics.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The End of the Line
In which the author terminates his journey with crisps