Modern Library / Euclid in the Rainforest

Author: Joseph Mazur [USA]
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-12-01
Features: A story-based history of mathematics, Guggenheim Prize winner, popular science and popular reading, ranked on the New York Times science bestseller list for 60 consecutive weeks. Full of insights, highly inspiring, rich in dialectics, and filled with humor, it is undoubtedly a wise work. — Harvard University Professor of the History of Science, Betty G. Garrison The Euclidean in the Rainforest cleverly and ingeniously reveals the essence and spirit of mathematics. — Mayor of Hiroshima City, Akiba Tadashi Joseph has created a highly attractive writing style, building a wonderful bridge between daily reality and the mysterious world of mathematics. — Head of the Department of Mathematics at Harvard University, Joseph Harris He abandoned complex proofs and dry technical language, replacing them with interesting stories and rich experiences, resulting in wisdom, wonder, and excitement. — Publishers Weekly
In 300 BC, Euclid wrote Elements on 13 scrolls of papyrus. At that time, logical reasoning was already quite mature, but arguments like the following led conventional mathematical logic into contradictions. To move an object an arbitrary distance, it must first reach halfway, then the halfway point of the remaining distance, and so on, repeating infinitely. The object would then always reach some remaining half of the distance, so it could never actually move the entire distance. Strange concepts like infinity, along with similar reasoning and logical puzzles, posed a formidable challenge to mathematics. At first glance, these questions often seem awe-inspiring. However, in this book, we will look beyond the surface of mathematical proofs and logical reasoning to gain insights into the origins of mathematics—the fundamental patterns of mathematical thought and logical thinking—and use them to analyze these questions. As the book states: Mathematics is like a lush rainforest. Walking through it, we not only feel the greatness of wisdom but also the beauty of mathematics brought by profound thoughts and rigorous arguments, as well as the joy of the journey through mathematics, which makes us linger.