Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity, (Paperback)

from semckibbin

I wish my calculus teachers had covered the material the way Wallace does. Science and math textbooks authoritatively present the material as if it had descended from heaven and is so obvious that no one wants to argue about it anymore. But that's just bluff. As recently as 200 years ago the real...

from Eoin

High-wire all the way. More DFW or math in either direction and the thing falls to it's death. If you would like a glimpse of what Real math is like and don't hate Mr. Wallace, this is worth it.

from contriver

Meh. An acceptable overview / history of the subject. Only limited amounts of the DFW uniqueness shine through. If you both like DFW and are interested in the math, it's pretty good. If you only like one or neither of those, this will likely not change your mind.

from andypurshottam

Historical intro to set theory by essayist/novelist is written in idiosyncratic style to appeal to math phobics. Shows set theory created to formalize infinite reasoning needs of analysis. Has an introduction to diagonalization proofs, using |S| < |P(S)| as example.

from Galizur

The one mathematics book that Wallace wrote, "Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity", was written in 2003. This is the literary equivalent of being kicked in the groin by a Martian, or an anatomically correct troll doll. Ostensibly, it shouldn't exist, but it does. Wallace attended A...