A Mathematical Mystery Tour: Discovering the Truth and Beauty of the Cosmos

by A.K. Dewdney

Book Overview

Praise for A. K. Dewdney Yes, We Have No Neutrons "We need more books like this-especially if they're this much fun to read." -Wired "Dewdney manages to make this catalog of error entertaining as well as instructive; good medicine for both skeptics and true believers." -Kirkus Reviews "Written with wit and a touch of pathos-and sure to please science lovers." -Publishers Weekly 200% of Nothing "It is impossible to read this timely, important book...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471238473
• ISBN13: 9780471238478
• Release Date: February 1999
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 218 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

an intriguing internation math tour

This virtual odyssey, exploring the historical and cultural roots of mathematics and the mystery of its timeless questions, stimulates learning and wonder in a way no standard math textbook can do. The book combines the charm of travel adventures with the mystery of ancient mathematics. Interspersed in the entertaining narrative are thoughtful questions on the nature of the universe, questions entertained by Pythagoras himself. The author talks with Greek, Arab, Italian, and English mathematicians, each of whom ponders the question of Pythagoras in his or her own intriguing way. At the temple of Apollo, Dr. Pygonopolis introduces the fundamental idea of the holos and ponders whether the discoveries of the Pythagorean School could have been made in another culture. Under the desert sky, Prof. al-Flayli gives a fascinating account of Arabic influence on astronomy and mathematics. In Venice, under the sound of "Missa Sancta," physicist Maria Canzoni contemplates the holos, the cosmos, and the ultimate reality of menos, or a consciousness beyond the quantum curtain. In Oxford, England, Sir John Brainard lectures on the intrinsic simplicity of mathematics and the evidence that computers provide for its independent existence. Accessible and thought-provoking, this is the most fascinating math book I have read to date.

Tour is actually Discovering the Truth & Beauty of the Holos

Tour is certainly a rare book, one on mathematical philosophy. After all, it is commonly accepted that physics describes the real world, while metaphysics grapples with the questions of what is real? With that being said, Dewdney turns his attention the tools of mathematics that Physics uses in its descriptions, and ponders if there could be the "meta-mathematical." In Tour, he undertakes to answer two questions. First, why is mathematics so amazingly successful in describing the structure of physical reality, and second, is mathematics discovered or is it created? These are not trifling questions. Consider the discovery of the planet Neptune. In 1845, the 23-year old British John Couch Adams completed calculations pinpointing a new planet that he believed was perturbing the orbit of Uranus. That same year, French astronomer Urban Jean LeVerrier independently published his prediction of the position of the new planet, within a degree of Adams. Alone, this proves almost nothing. Given the same set of data from observations, regardless of how complex the celestial mechanics are, the formulae do not change and accurate algebraic answers should agree (although they do provide standalone verification for each other). What happened next though transforms a merely mathematical exercise into Dewdney's quest to understand the true nature of math. On the same night they read of it, Johann Galle and Heinrich d'Arrest at the Berlin Observatory search and see an eighth magnitude "star" right where LeVerrier envisaged it. Dewdney dares asks, "Why is the physical universe determined (or accurately describable) to so great an extent by Mathematical ideas?" To answer, Dewdney employs what in the preface he describes as "a fictional narrative," that leads from Greece to Arabia to Italy to England. However, his level of detail and his concluding notes in the postscript lead me to question how fictional the four characters are who elucidate on the subject. I suppose that is to be expected in a work of philosophy, blurring the distinction of who is real. There is one other "character," dead some 2,500 years, but whose mystical and mathematical spirit is still felt: Pythagoras. Carl Sagan credits Pythagoras as the first to "use the word Cosmos to denote a well-ordered and harmonious universe, a world amenable to human understanding" (hence the title for Sagan's series; and now you know the rest of the story!) The followers of Pythagoras developed an entire mathematical cult, a sect that sincerely believed that through math they were glimpsing a perfect reality, a nonmaterial higher realm, of which the physical world was a manifestation. The dwellers of Plato's cave were inheritors indirectly of the Pythagoreans: "The stars that decorate the sky, though we rightly regard them as the finest and most perfect of visible things, are far inferior, just because they are visible, to the true realities; that is, to the true relative velocities, in pure number and perfect f

Deep, accessible beauty in mathematics

Four journeys, four hosts, one traveler and an infinite mystery. Where does mathematics end and physics begin? Or is it the other way around? What is the language of ultimate reality, and is this invention a chimera, or does reality reflect inself in the language used to understand it? Take the journey with Dewdney and come away a little better for it. You'll share beauty under the immense heavens in the desert night, or felt in conversation along a garden path. I'll bet you never thought that metaphysics, physics and math could ever taste or feel so wonderful. A rarity among texts in the field, sampling these delights will be immediately enjoyable to those with little exposure to math or physics or philosophy, but can also satisfy those with more experience and education. As with other books that dare to be written for the "layman" reader, purists may object to the lack or rigor or occassional whimsy. To them I say, "just go back to your ivory tower." Compared to other texts which may prove more comprehensive or rigorous, Dewdney's offering has it's own unique charm and is probably much more accessible than others. There is nothing wrong with bringing charm to science writing. We need more books like this.

Entertaining, educational and thought provoking

Not a difficult read, but you'll need some background understanding of mathematics to stay interested. The basic question of whether mathematics is discovered or created runs throughout the book as Dewdney travels around, meeting interesting characters who try to help him answer the question. A few vivid descriptions of Dewdeny's travels relieve some of the theoretical discussions and the character development of the people he meets are interesting, but some end abruptly. Overall, a thought provoking little book.

I Love Pitágoras

Well, I thing that is the first man in the beginning of the civilization. I lived in Egipt and previously with the babylonian. I came from the siberian lands through the Elba river and takes his name of the pitha, and goes, becouse the greek province. Tanks Verónica