One to Nine: The Inner Life of Numbers - Hardcover

An exceptional copy; fine in an equally fine dw, now mylar-sleeved. Particularly and surprisingly well-preserved; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered. Literally as new.; 330 pages; Physical desc. : 330 p. : ill. ; 22 cm. Includes index. Subject: Counting --Numeration. Summary: Have you ever thought about the uniqueness and simplicity of One, or what it means to be Two? Is Four really so square and why are there Seven days of the week, Seven deadly sins, or even Seven wonders of the world? In One to Nine, Andrew Hodges brings numbers to life. Inspired by the popularity of Sudoku - and millennia of human attempts to figure things out - this pithy, kaleidoscopic book takes a fresh, witty and hands-on approach to such various topics as musical harmony, code breaking, and probabilities in poker and lotteries. It probes the surprising symmetries of time, space, matter, and forces. It even goes to the heart of what computers can do. Andrew Hodges weaves together the inner life of numbers, the patterns of primes and powers that we try to grasp, and that have us in their grip. Accessible to anyone with a general curiosity and interest in puzzles, One to Nine might even have you completing a fiendish Sudoku in record time.