Huge Numbers - A Story of Counting Ambitiously

When the ancient Egyptians wanted to write down 1,000,000 they had to draw a picture of a god - bigger than that and maths simply broke down! With this and so much more in mind, author and Numberphile presenter Richard Elwes conducts us on a hugely entertaining and enlightening historical tour of all things gigantically numerical. 

Starting off with a view of the humble number one, which can in fact be quite big, he guides us through the human history of trying to conceive of, understand and harness huge numbers. Along the way we take in everything from counting on tally sticks and abacuses to binary code; we consider what to do with a googolplex (a very big number) and FISH 7 (an even bigger very big number); we learn about everything from the Mayan Calendar to chatbots. This is a witty and accessible read, packed full of fascinating facts to delight numberphiles and possibly numberphobes too! Would make a great gift for maths teachers everywhere.

Hardback, 368 pages
Measures 24.3 x 16.5 x 3.3cm