a very short introduction Higgins, Peter M. 1956- creator text bibliography enk Oxford New York Oxford University Press 2011 monographic eng

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xiii, 132 p. : ill. ; 18 cm. Numbers are integral to our everyday lives and feature in everything we do. Here, Peter M. Higgins, the renowned mathematics writer, unravels the world of numbers. Using non-technical language and painting a rich and comprehensive picture of the 'idea' of the number, he explores how the modern number system developed. Explaining the remarkable variety of number types and showing how they behave, he introduces the key concepts from integers and fractions to real and imaginary numbers. --Book Jacket. Ch. 1. How not to think about numbers -- ch. 2. The unending sequence of primes -- ch. 3. Perfect and not so perfect numbers -- ch. 4. Cryptography : the secret life of primes -- ch. 5. Numbers that count -- ch. 6. Below the waterline of the number iceberg -- ch. 7. To infinity and beyond! -- ch. 8. Numbers but not as we know them. Peter M. Higgins. Includes bibliographical references (125-127) and index. Number theory QA241 .H483 2011 512.7 HIN 2011 9780199584055 (pbk.) 0199584052 (pbk.) 2012405903 UKM 120822 20231030085509.0