"The Silent Universe" tells you the stories behind 24 beautiful and great formulas in human history, from the basic 1 + 1 = 2 to the "Maxwell equation" that reveals electromagnetic phenomena, from the famous E = mc² to the mysterious "Hamilton's quaternion equation". It clearly explains the meaning of each equation, who (how) discovered it, and the huge role they played in the history of human development and real life.
The stories are both informative and entertaining, such as:
Discovering the world's simplest equation and what it means;
What would happen if the concept of "0" never existed in the world;
How Newton's laws of motion allow humans to do it all - from building bridges to predicting the weather;
How a bad cigar changed the course of quantum mechanics;
Why would whales (if they could communicate with us) teach us radically different concepts of geometry?
At the same time, this book explains why these equations tell eternal secrets about the universe that no human expression can match. What matters most is how surprisingly they have impacted human history and our daily lives.
Reader comments
This book is very interesting! It explains those seemingly advanced mathematical formulas in the form of stories, so that even a math novice like me can easily understand them. I especially like the story about the process of discovering the formula. It's like reading a detective novel. It's very interesting. And I think this book is also helpful for job hunting. For example, understanding the application of formulas in real life may give you extra points in interviews!
This book is very interesting! It explains those seemingly advanced mathematical formulas in the form of stories, so that even a math novice like me can easily understand them. I especially like the story about the process of discovering the formula. It's like reading a detective novel. It's very interesting. And I think this book is also helpful for job hunting. For example, understanding the application of formulas in real life may give you extra points in interviews!