Cover of Euler's Pioneering Equation: The most beautiful theorem in mathematics

Euler's Pioneering Equation: The most beautiful theorem in mathematics

by Robin J. Wilson

171 pages2018Oxford University PressISBN 9780198794929
Fiction

About this book

What is it that makes Euler's identity, e]iPi + 1 = 0, so special? In Euler's Pioneering Equation Robin Wilson shows how this simple, elegant, and profound formula links together perhaps the five most important numbers in mathematics, each associated with a story in themselves: the number 1, the basis of our counting system; the concept of zero, which was a major development in mathematics, and opened up the idea of negative numbers; Pi an irrational number, the basis for the measurement of circles; the exponential e, associated with exponential growth and logarithms; and the imaginary number i, the square root of -1, the basis of complex numbers. Following a chapter on each of the elements, Robin Wilson discusses how the startling relationship between them was established, including the several near misses to the discovery of the formula. --

Publication Details

Publisher
Oxford University Press
Published
2018
Pages
171
ISBN
9780198794929
Language
en

About Robin J. Wilson

Robin James Wilson is an emeritus professor in the Department of Mathematics at the Open University, having previously been Head of the Pure Mathematics Department and Dean of the Faculty. Wilson's academic interests lie in graph theory, particularly in colouring problems, e.g. the four colour problem, and algebraic properties of graphs. He also researches the history of mathematics, particularly British mathematics and mathematics in the 17th century and the period 1860 to 1940, and the history of graph theory and combinatorics. He has strong interests in music, including the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan, and is the co-author (with Frederic Lloyd) of *Gilbert and Sullivan: The Official D'Oyly Carte Picture History*. *--Wikipedia* *Photo Attribution:* Jamesfranklingresham at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

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