In Pursuit of the Unknown

I have always enjoyed studying/employing higher level math. I also liked studying history and the evolution of science. This book explains so much. It's one that you read a sentence or paragraph at a time and then think about what you just read. Had to research many of the terms as I progressed. Without a doubt, several hours well spent.

Professor Stewart does a great job in this book discussing the flow of mathematical and scientific thought through human history and how those times produced these 17 great equations. I found the book engrossing, with sufficient detail provided to understand the general make-up of each equation without getting into the weeds of mathematical formalism. Professor Stewart focuses on the 'how' and 'why' of each equation and their application to the many branches of science, from classical mechanics to quantum mechanics, from social science to biology and even finance. The breadth of topics discussed is amazing and up-to-date as of 2012. (The Higgs boson has now been found.) There are a few typos here and there and some occasional glancing politics, but nothing that interferes with the gist of the topic. As an engineer most of my exposure to these equations has been in classes and books where I feel like a hiker surrounded by an impenetrable forest of weeds. This book is like finding and climbing to the top of a nearby peak where I can finally see the terrain clearly.

Professor Stewart selected 17 equations that changed the world. He discusses each equation in an engaging and practical manner, and he gives a number of illustrations of how those equations have and are impacting our lives. One could argue whether these 17 equations completely describe our civilization, or whether all should be included (unless you happen to work or be interested in special areas, such as communications or signal processing - in which case, those equations governing propagation and information theory are of major importance.) Indeed, the author frequently points out that the equations are not independent, but richly interrelated . One can not argue that Professor Stewart doesn't give thoughtful discussions of the development and meaning of each equation. He presents many detailed references and side stories of how the equations were developed, the "blind alleys" pursued, those who opposed or aided in their development, and the time periods involved. Indeed, the author gives sufficient historical detail to satisfy ordinary history "buffs". These humanity references, together with treatment of the mathematic principles, ensures well rounded satisfaction to the reader.I do not recommend one speed-read this book, but rather cover one equation at a sitting while reading in a contemplative manner.Professor Stewart gives ample reasons for anticipation of future improvements or changes in mathematical descriptions of the world(s) in which we live. For example, he challenges the reader with the exciting possibility of how dark matter may change our understanding of the universe: he does this best in the final chapter, "Where Next?" The potential for string theory, general universal theory, and the Higgs Boson creates an atmosphere of anticipation and the need to learn more - that is a major credit to the author!Structurally speaking, this book is constructed so that each equation or chapter is virtually independent of the preceding chapter. This is very convenient, allowing the reader to select which equation to study, without the necessity of thumbing back to prior chapters to clarify some reference.I had one surprising disappointment on accuracy or proof reading, when the author, on page 40, states that the note, middle C, is 440 cycles per second. This dismayed me, because it made me doubt many other bits of referenced information, which makes this book so interesting. This mistake was not repeated in the chapter on wave motion - which restored my confidence and caused me to forgive this one error, however blatant. All in all, this is a commendable book, one which spurs the imagination, and increases the understanding of mathematical equations.I recommend this book to all students of mathematics and those responsible for teaching the subject to others.

Good read.

Ian Stewart is a master of writing mathematics that can be understood. This latest addition to his literature brings to the casual reader 17 of the equations the author believes have changed the world. Some will be known to almost all and some are more embedded in everyday use rather than everyday knowledge. But the authors ability to describe the equations, history and importance follows in each of his chapters.The equations covered starts with Pythagoras's Theorom, then discusses logarithms, the limit equation in calculus, newtons gravity, the properties of i, eulers formula for topology, the normal distribution, the wave equation, the fourier transform, navier-stokes, maxwell's equations, the second law of thermodynamics, E=MC^2, schrodingers equation, shannon's theorem in information theory, basic chaos from dynamical systems and the black and scholes equations.From the first chapter the author brings illumination to his topics combining intuition with his insight. For example in Pythagoras's Theorem, the author discusses its properties, how it was interpreted (as relation of areas, as relation of triange etc) to what it tells us about geometry. Most of us are familiar with the equation but some subtle but very important details are provided and pondered- with a result that creates a certain awe.The book is filled with insight and description that can be understood by the casual reader. This is not a math book, some of the chapters have some relatively sophisticated mathematical ideas, but they are peripheral rather than core to the chapter. The book gives a sense of history and describes much of the pratical significance of the math the author introduces. I highly recommend this to all interested in how math affects the real world in application as well as to those just interested in the history some of our most important equations.

Some of the history and discussion on the equations were interesting, but much of the book was not enlightening for me.

The person loved it.

This book by Dr. Stewart was great. Qualities: It was informative, credible (with citations to peer-reviewed evidence), well-written, entertaining, and well-organized. Reading it left me thinking that I knew more about history and math. The book was so good that I decided to order another book by Dr. Stewart to read for fun.

Good quality 😁

I found the book honestly quite fascinating, I wish I had read it before and during my college years as a compass to the landscape of physics and mathematic

[Tomado de mi reseña en Goodreads, 3.75 / 5] Se ha discutido mucho si este es un buen libro o no. En mi opinión, esto se debe a que, a diferencia de otros libros de divulgación de las matemáticas, este sí asume que el lector tiene un buen conocimiento práctico de matemáticas. A pesar de ello, lo encuentro muy brillante, especialmente en lo que se refiere a la historia de las matemáticas y de cómo son mucho más que la manipulación de símbolos sin sentidoEl último capítulo fue (para mí) muy aburrido y me salté la mitad del mismo. El resto del libro es una gran lectura acerca de cómo las matemáticas viven, cómo son creadas y cómo (para sorpresa de muchos escolares que creen saberlo todo) las matemáticas sí se usan en la vida cotidiana.Para una lectura menos técnica y más divertida de Stewart, recomiendo Cómo cortar un pastel y otros rompecabezas matemáticos