One to Nine: The Inner Life of Numbers - Hardcover

"A virtuoso stream of consciousness containing everything important there is to say about numbers. . . . Cogent, charming and deeply personal. . . . One to Nine makes the unfathomable enticing and gives the reader tremendous motivation to explore further."--"Daily Telegraph" (UK) "Hodges is. . .very good at pulling numerical rabbits out of everyday hats. . . .You can skip through the facts like a tourist, marvelling at the sights thrust in your path and still feeling impressed by the principles that underpin them, even when the technical detail eludes you."--"Daily Mail" (UK) "The ideal book for everyone interested in the only universal language, especially if their mathematical curiosity exceeds their skill." --"Sunday Telegraph" (UK) "One to Nine ranges widely through literature, music, philosophy, politics, and whatever else occurs to its author, in a charmingly scholarly and entertaining way. A joyous read." --"Times "(UK) "From the Hardcover edition."

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, indeed Seven wonders of the world? In "One to Nine", Andrew Hodges brings numbers to life. Inspired by 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, the probabilities in poker, code breaking and the lottery. It probes the surprising symmetries of time, space, matter and forces. It even goes to the heart of what computers can do. Interweaving all these lies the inner life of the numbers, the patterns of primes and powers, which we try to grasp, and which have us in their grip. Accessible to anyone with a general curiosity and interest in puzzles, "One to Nine" might even have you completing your fiendish Sudoku in record time...