Shape
The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy, and Everything Else
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Narrated by:
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Jordan Ellenberg
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By:
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Jordan Ellenberg
About this listen
From the New York Times best-selling author of How Not to Be Wrong - himself a world-class geometer - a far-ranging exploration of the power of geometry, which turns out to help us think better about practically everything
How should a democracy choose its representatives? How can you stop a pandemic from sweeping the world? How do computers learn to play Go, and why is learning Go so much easier for them than learning to read a sentence? Can ancient Greek proportions predict the stock market? (Sorry, no.) What should your kids learn in school if they really want to learn to think? All these are questions about geometry. For real.
If you're like most people, geometry is a sterile and dimly remembered exercise you gladly left behind in the dust of ninth grade, along with your braces and active romantic interest in pop singers. If you recall any of it, it's plodding through a series of miniscule steps only to prove some fact about triangles that was obvious to you in the first place. That's not geometry. Okay, it is geometry, but only a tiny part, which has as much to do with geometry in all its flush modern richness as conjugating a verb has to do with a great novel.
Shape reveals the geometry underneath some of the most important scientific, political, and philosophical problems we face. Geometry asks: Where are things? Which things are near each other? How can you get from one thing to another thing? Those are important questions. The word "geometry", from the Greek for "measuring the world". If anything, that's an undersell. Geometry doesn't just measure the world - it explains it. Shape shows us how.
* This audiobook includes a downloadable PDF of images and shapes.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2021 Jordan Ellenberg (P)2021 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Unreasonably entertaining new book.... Shape makes geometry entertaining. Really, it does.... For all Ellenberg’s wit and play (and his rightful admiration of some excellent 19th-century beards), the real work of Shape is in codifying that geometry on the page.... To Ellenberg, geometry is not a reprieve from life but a force in it - and one that can be used for good, ill and for pleasures of its own. It binds and expands our notions of the world, the web of the real and the abstract. ‘I prove a theorem,’ the poet Rita Dove wrote, ‘and the house expands.’” (Parul Sehgal, The New York Times)
“Ellenberg’s commitment to explanation, his exploration of the humanity of mathematics, and the tour de force of the final chapter in defense of a democracy girded by fairness and science are enough to remind you why he is America’s favorite math professor.” (Daily Beast)
"Containing multitudes as he must, Ellenberg's eyes grow wider and wider, his prose more and more energetic, as he moves from what geometry means to what geometry does in the modern world.” (The Telegraph)
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- By Erlend on 04-06-16
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Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Jeff Crawford
- Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Over a storied career, Daniel C. Dennett has engaged questions about science and the workings of the mind. His answers have combined rigorous argument with strong empirical grounding. And a lot of fun. Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking offers seventy-seven of Dennett’s most successful “imagination-extenders and focus-holders” meant to guide you through some of life’s most treacherous subject matter: evolution, meaning, mind, and free will.
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Loved it, but some philosophy background needed.
- By LongerILiveLessIKnow on 11-14-13
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Dance of the Photons
- From Einstein to Quantum Teleportation
- By: Anton Zeilinger
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
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Einstein's steadfast refusal to accept certain aspects of quantum theory was rooted in his insistence that physics has to be about reality. Accordingly, he once derided as spooky action at a distance the notion that two elementary particles far removed from each other could nonetheless influence each others propertiesa hypothetical phenomenon his fellow theorist Erwin Schrdinger termed quantum entanglement.
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Brilliant author tries hard, but comes up short...
- By Michael on 07-27-12
By: Anton Zeilinger
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Undeniable
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- By: Douglas Axe
- Narrated by: Neil Hellegers
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
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Throughout his distinguished and unconventional career, engineer-turned-molecular-biologist Douglas Axe has been asking the questions that much of the scientific community would rather silence. Now, he presents his conclusions in this brave and pioneering book. Axe argues that the key to understanding our origin is the "design intuition" - the innate belief held by all humans that tasks we would need knowledge to accomplish can be accomplished only by someone who has that knowledge.
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Seductively Challenge what are consider facts
- By Rafael Vila on 10-08-16
By: Douglas Axe
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Spooky Action at a Distance
- The Phenomenon That Reimagines Space and Time-and What It Means for Black Holes, the Big Bang, and Theories of Everything
- By: George Musser
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
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What is space? It isn't a question that most of us normally stop to ask. Space is the venue of physics; it's where things exist, where they move and take shape. Yet over the past few decades, physicists have discovered a phenomenon that operates outside the confines of space and time. The phenomenon - the ability of one particle to affect another instantly across the vastness of space - appears to be almost magical.
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Rambling but Asks Good Questions
- By Michael on 12-19-15
By: George Musser
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When Einstein Walked with Gödel
- Excursions to the Edge of Thought
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- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 15 hrs and 19 mins
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Does time exist? What is infinity? Why do mirrors reverse left and right but not up and down? In this scintillating collection, Holt explores the human mind, the cosmos, and the thinkers who’ve tried to encompass the latter with the former. With his trademark clarity and humor, Holt probes the mysteries of quantum mechanics, the quest for the foundations of mathematics, and the nature of logic and truth. Along the way, he offers intimate biographical sketches of celebrated and neglected thinkers, from the physicist Emmy Noether to the computing pioneer Alan Turing and the discoverer of fractals, Benoit Mandelbrot.
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A good overview of scientific theory
- By MJ Walters on 09-11-18
By: Jim Holt
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A Mind at Play
- How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age
- By: Rob Goodman, Jimmy Soni
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Claude Shannon was a tinkerer, a playful wunderkind, a groundbreaking polymath, and a digital pioneer whose insights made the Information Age possible. He constructed fire-breathing trumpets and customized unicycles, outfoxed Vegas casinos, and built juggling robots, but he also wrote the seminal text of the Digital Revolution. That work allowed scientists to measure and manipulate information as objectively as any physical object. His work gave mathematicians and engineers the tools to bring that world to pass.
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I wanted more information about Information Theory
- By Bonny on 05-08-18
By: Rob Goodman, and others
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Euclid's Window
- The Story of Geometry from Parallel Lines to Hyperspace
- By: Leonard Mlodinow
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
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Through Euclid's Window Leonard Mlodinow brilliantly and delightfully leads us on a journey through five revolutions in geometry, from the Greek concept of parallel lines to the latest notions of hyperspace. Here is an altogether new, refreshing, alternative history of math revealing how simple questions anyone might ask about space -- in the living room or in some other galaxy -- have been the hidden engine of the highest achievements in science and technology.
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Wow!
- By Eric on 08-13-10
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Significant Figures
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- Narrated by: Roger Clark
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In Significant Figures, acclaimed mathematician Ian Stewart introduces the visionaries of mathematics throughout history. Delving into the lives of twenty-five great mathematicians, Stewart examines the roles they played in creating, inventing, and discovering the mathematics we use today. Through these short biographies, we get acquainted with the history of mathematics.
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Beware
- By Anton Kurtz on 12-08-18
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The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved
- How Mathematical Genius Discovered the Language of Symmetry
- By: Mario Livio
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
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Overall
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Performance
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For thousands of years mathematicians solved progressively more difficult algebraic equations, until they encountered the quintic equation, which resisted solution for three centuries. Working independently, two prodigies ultimately proved that the quintic cannot be solved by a simple formula. The first popular account of the mathematics of symmetry and order, The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved is told not through abstract formulas but in a beautifully written and dramatic account of the lives and work of some of the greatest and most intriguing mathematicians in history.
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Historical Perspective Appreciated
- By Michael Hanrahan on 01-22-20
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Our Mathematical Universe
- My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality
- By: Max Tegmark
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
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Max Tegmark leads us on an astonishing journey through past, present and future, and through the physics, astronomy, and mathematics that are the foundation of his work, most particularly his hypothesis that our physical reality is a mathematical structure and his theory of the ultimate multiverse. In a dazzling combination of both popular and groundbreaking science, he not only helps us grasp his often mind-boggling theories, but he also shares with us some of the often surprising triumphs and disappointments that have shaped his life as a scientist.
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Wow!
- By Michael on 02-02-14
By: Max Tegmark
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Seven Games
- A Human History
- By: Oliver Roeder
- Narrated by: William Sarris
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
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Checkers, backgammon, chess, and Go. Poker, Scrabble, and bridge. These seven games, ancient and modern, fascinate millions of people worldwide. In Seven Games, Oliver Roeder charts their origins and historical importance, the arcana of their rules, and the ways their design makes them pleasurable.
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All about computers and games
- By Mark L on 01-03-23
By: Oliver Roeder
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What Is Real?
- The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics
- By: Adam Becker
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- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
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Every physicist agrees quantum mechanics is among humanity's finest scientific achievements. But ask what it means, and the result will be a brawl. For a century, most physicists have followed Niels Bohr's Copenhagen interpretation and dismissed questions about the reality underlying quantum physics as meaningless. A mishmash of solipsism and poor reasoning, Copenhagen endured, as Bohr's students vigorously protected his legacy, and the physics community favored practical experiments over philosophical arguments.
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Good, "light" "read"... potential caveat below...
- By James S. on 03-31-18
By: Adam Becker
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I was looking forward to this. What a disappointment.
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This is an audiobook about math, but it contains no numbers. Math Without Numbers is a vivid, conversational, and wholly original guide to the three main branches of abstract math - topology, analysis, and algebra - which turn out to be surprisingly easy to grasp. This audiobook upends the conventional approach to math, inviting you to think creatively about shape and dimension, the infinite and infinitesimal, symmetries, proofs, and how these concepts all fit together. Join this freewheeling tour of the inimitable joys and unsolved mysteries of this curiously powerful subject.
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please leave your politics at home
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One of the great insights of science is that the universe has an underlying order. The supreme goal of physicists is to understand this order through laws that describe the behavior of the most basic particles and the forces between them. For centuries, we have searched for these laws by studying the results of experiments. Since the 1970s, however, experiments at the world's most powerful atom-smashers have offered few new clues. So some of the world's leading physicists have looked to a different source of insight: modern mathematics.
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Great story and narration, but lacks rigor...
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Vaclav Smil's mission is to make facts matter. An environmental scientist, policy analyst, and a hugely prolific author, he is Bill Gates' go-to guy for making sense of our world. In Numbers Don't Lie, Smil answers questions such as: What's worse for the environment - your car or your phone? How much do the world's cows weigh (and what does it matter)? And what makes people happy?
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Strange book
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The King of Infinite Space
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Geometry defines the world around us, helping us make sense of everything from architecture to military science to fashion. And for over 2,000 years, geometry has been equated with Euclid's Elements, arguably the most influential book in the history of mathematics. In The King of Infinite Space, renowned mathematics writer David Berlinski provides a concise homage to this elusive mathematician and his staggering achievements.
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Funniest Highest and Fullest math overview
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What listeners say about Shape
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- paul
- 01-02-22
math is as fun as this book
top favorite for 2021, clever, up to date and funny.
Jordan is well versed with both words and numbers!
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- Keith Klein
- 06-14-21
Shape's about reason, logic, mathematics & more...
I love the scope of this book; from explaining the rigor of Abraham Lincoln immersing himself "till I could give any propositions in the six books of Euclid at sight" to applying the inherent reasoning and logic of demonstrating proof to far-flung human undertakings.
Ellenberg is a math professor who can write. His speaking style, while forthright, cannot fully contain his enthusiasm for his subject matter. His narration is conversational and reminds me of the best of the Great Lectures books I've enjoyed.
Rational thought and reasoning can be applied to everything from geometry to maps to politics, artificial intelligence to genealogy and biology. The best arguments are "self-evident," and Ellenberg weaves mathematical, cultural and political history into Shape, elucidating great advances in math and other endeavors, from Ancient Greece to the American Revolution; from the thinking of Abraham Lincoln, to gerrymandering today.
Shape will make you think...without making your head hurt too much in the process. What a treat! I'll be up for a second, and perhaps a third listen. And based on Shape, I'm up for trying Ellenberg's other work as well.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Zach Brunson
- 11-08-23
An Excellent Branching Dive into Geometry
This book is fun, interesting, educational, and entertaining as it explores the geometry and general maths present in a wild variety of subjects, branching from history to games to diseases to politics to artificial intelligence and more. Tickle your brain and get ready for an excellent read.
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- James Weisner
- 03-23-22
Skip to chapter 14
I strongly dislike the structure of this book. The author considers himself a "fun professor" and meanders from topic to topic. This panders to those with short attention spans. And bothers me.
A meaningful potential thesis of the book is the mathematics of gerrymandering. It seems to me the author was afraid this is too boring a topic. Which it's not. There are onion layers to the problem of determining if a district map has been gerrymandered. It's really interesting!
I recommend you skip to chapter 14 titled "How Math Broke Democracy (and Might Still Save It)".
It's the only chapter worth reading.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Kirsten Wickelgren
- 08-11-21
Wonder and laughter
Shape is absolutely hilarious and breathtakingly impressive. And it makes a great audiobook too. I never got out pencil and paper, and had a great time listening to it. (I might have learned more if I had, but I don’t have free hands while I listen.)
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- J. Michael Mackey
- 12-19-22
Will change your view of mathematics entirely!
Shape takes you on a lyrical journey through mathematics. If I’m honest in ways I had never though math even played a role in from politics to poker this book has a little bit of everything.
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- Jorge Novillo
- 10-23-22
Geometry in the World
Excellent book for its selection of topics and their enthused conveyance by the the author. Highly recommended for everyone.
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- Nbdubya
- 09-30-22
Dry as a textbook
Thought this was about interesting "hidden geometries" of the real world. Instead, it was an unending string of proofs "this proves line xy is congruent to line xa because angle abc and xyz are..." blah blah
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- Matt
- 05-23-24
enthusiastically delivert
large sawths of the text unlistenable without referencing the included PDF. nice that they have the PDF available, but I am listening in contexts that make it impossible to reference.
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- Jim
- 06-16-21
I’m a curious person...
But I’m not a mathematician. There were topics providing insight, but overall this book didn’t fit my interests. I wish he’d included a mentioned chapter on the geography of maritime navigation. If you’re not mathematically inclined, I’d suggest you review an audio sample before committing to the book.
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