Rainforest of Euclid: A Storytelling History of Mathematics

Author: Joseph Mazur (USA), translated by Wu Fei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-12-01
Features: A story-based history of mathematics, winner of the Guggenheim Award, 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 debate, and filled with humor, it is undoubtedly a wise work. – Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University, Betty Garrison
"Euclid 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. – Director of the Department of Mathematics at Harvard University, Joseph Harris
Abandoning complex proofs and dry technical language, he replaces 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 any distance, it must first reach half the distance, then half of the remaining distance, and so on, repeating endlessly. The object would always end up at some remaining half of the distance, so it could never actually move the entire distance. The strange concept of infinity and similar reasoning and logical puzzles posed a formidable challenge to mathematics. At first glance, these questions can be awe-inspiring, but in this book, we will delve beyond the surface of mathematical proofs and logical reasoning to uncover the essence of mathematics—the fundamental patterns of mathematical thought and logical thinking—and use this to analyze the aforementioned puzzles. 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 about by profound thoughts and rigorous arguments, as well as the joy of embarking on a mathematical journey, which makes us linger longer.