
Numbers
A Very Short Introduction
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Narrated by:
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Nigel Patterson
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By:
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Peter M. Higgins
About this listen
Numbers are integral to our everyday lives and factor into almost everything we do. In this Very Short Introduction audiobook, Peter M. Higgins, a renowned popular-science writer, unravels the world of numbers, demonstrating its richness and providing an overview of all the number types that feature in modern science and mathematics. Indeed, Higgins paints a crystal-clear picture of the number world, showing how the modern number system matured over many centuries, and introducing key concepts such as integers, fractions, real and imaginary numbers, and complex numbers. Higgins sheds light on such fascinating topics as the series of primes, describing how primes are now used to encrypt confidential data on the internet. He also explores the infinite nature of number collections and explains how the so-called real numbers knit together to form the continuum of the number line.
Written in the fashion of Higgins' highly popular science paperbacks, Numbers accurately explains the nature of numbers and how so-called complex numbers and number systems are used in calculations that arise in real problems.
©2011 Peter M. Higgins (P)2021 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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A Superfluously Grandiloquent Exegesis of an Ostentatiously Verbose Tome
- By Anonymous User on 03-01-25
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Hannah Arendt
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: Dana Villa
- Narrated by: Christa Lewis
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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This Very Short Introduction explores the philosophical ideas and political theories belonging to one of the most important thinkers of the twentieth century. As a survivor of the Holocaust, Arendt's life informed her work exploring the meaning and construction of power, evil, totalitarianism, and direct democracy. Dana Villa explains how Arendt gained world-wide fame with the publication of The Origins of Totalitarianism, and went on to have a distinguished career as a political theorist and public intellectual.
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Brilliant: both Arendt and this introductory work
- By Anonymous User on 11-11-24
By: Dana Villa
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Black Holes
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: Katherine Blundell
- Narrated by: Leila Birch
- Length: 3 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Black holes are a constant source of fascination to many due to their mysterious nature. This Very Short Introduction audiobook addresses a variety of questions, including what a black hole actually is, how they are characterized and discovered, and what would happen if you came too close to one.
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It’s ‘causal’ not ‘casual’ ffs!
- By Maureen E. on 01-22-25
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Paradox
- The Nine Greatest Enigmas in Physics
- By: Jim Al-Khalili
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Throughout history, scientists have come up with theories and ideas that just don't seem to make sense. These we call paradoxes. The paradoxes Al-Khalili offers are drawn chiefly from physics and astronomy and represent those that have stumped some of the finest minds. With elegant explanations that bring the listener inside the mind of those who've developed them, Al-Khalili helps us to see that, in fact, paradoxes can be solved if seen from the right angle.
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Almost Useless
- By Michael on 06-19-19
By: Jim Al-Khalili
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Socrates (2nd Edition)
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: C.C.W. Taylor
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 4 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In this Very Short Introduction audiobook, Christopher Taylor explores the life of Socrates and his philosophical activity, before looking to the responses his philosophical doctrines have evoked in the centuries since his betrayal and execution at fellow Athenian hands.
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A master class in the interpretation of ancient texts.
- By cpk on 11-29-24
By: C.C.W. Taylor
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Number Theory: A Very Short Introduction
- Very Short Introductions
- By: Robin Wilson
- Narrated by: Al Kessel
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Number theory is the branch of mathematics that is primarily concerned with the counting numbers. Of particular importance are the prime numbers, the "building blocks" of our number system. The subject is an old one, dating back over two millennia to the ancient Greeks, and for many years has been studied for its intrinsic beauty and elegance, not least because several of its challenges are so easy to state that everyone can understand them, and yet no one has ever been able to resolve them. But number theory has also recently become of great practical importance.
By: Robin Wilson
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Philosophy of Physics
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: David Wallace
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 4 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Philosophy of Physics is concerned with the deepest theories of modern physics - notably quantum theory, our theories of space, time and symmetry, and thermal physics - and their strange, even bizarre conceptual implications. A deeper understanding of these theories helps both physics, through pointing the way to new theories and new applications, and philosophy, through seeing how our worldview has to change in the light of what we learn from physics.
By: David Wallace
Better as a physical book
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