Significant Figures
The Lives and Work of Great Mathematicians
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Narrated by:
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Roger Clark
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By:
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Ian Stewart
About this listen
In Significant Figures, acclaimed mathematician Ian Stewart introduces the visionaries of mathematics throughout history. Delving into the lives of 25 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 from Archimedes to Benoit Mandelbrot, and learn about those too often left out of the cannon, such as Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (c. 780-850), the creator of algebra, and Augusta Ada King (1815-1852), Countess of Lovelace, the world's first computer programmer.
Tracing the evolution of mathematics over the course of two millennia, Significant Figures will educate and delight aspiring mathematicians and experts alike.
©2017 Joat Enterprises (P)2017 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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- By: David Lindley
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
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Werner Heisenberg's "uncertainty principle" challenged centuries of scientific understanding, placed him in direct opposition to Albert Einstein, and put Niels Bohr in the middle of one of the most heated debates in scientific history. Heisenberg's theorem stated that there were physical limits to what we could know about sub-atomic particles; this "uncertainty" would have shocking implications.
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fascinating insight into the real drama of physics
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What Is Real?
- The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics
- By: Adam Becker
- Narrated by: Greg Tremblay
- 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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The Infinity Puzzle
- Quantum Field Theory and the Hunt for an Orderly Universe
- By: Frank Close
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cowley
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The second half of the 20th century witnessed a scientific gold rush as physicists raced to chart the inner workings of the atom. The stakes were high, the questions were big, and there were Nobel Prizes and everlasting glory to be won. Many mysteries of the atom came unraveled, but one remained intractable-what Frank Close calls the "Infinity Puzzle."
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Succinct exposition
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The Invention of Science
- A New History of the Scientific Revolution
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- Narrated by: James Langton
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In this fascinating history spanning continents and centuries, historian David Wootton offers a lively defense of science, revealing why the Scientific Revolution was truly the greatest event in our history. The Invention of Science goes back 500 years in time to chronicle this crucial transformation, exploring the factors that led to its birth and the people who made it happen. Wootton argues that the Scientific Revolution was actually five separate yet concurrent events that developed independently.
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A Good Read Spoiled
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To Explain the World
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In this rich, irreverent, and compelling history, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Weinberg takes us across centuries, from ancient Miletus to medieval Baghdad and Oxford, from Plato's Academy and the Museum of Alexandria to the cathedral school of Chartres and the Royal Society of London. He shows that the scientists of ancient and medieval times not only did not understand what we understand about the world--they did not understand what there is to understand or how to understand it.
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How the world created a Newton
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Stephen Hawking: His Life and Work
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Stephen Hawking is one of the most remarkable figures of our time, a Cambridge genius who has earned international celebrity as a brilliant theoretical physicist and become an inspiration and revelation to those who have witnessed his courageous triumph over disability. This is Hawking's life story by Kitty Ferguson, who has had special help from Hawking himself and his close associates and who has a gift for translating the language of theoretical physics for non-scientists.
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Not What it Appears
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The Story of Western Science
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- By: Susan Wise Bauer
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Far too often, public discussion of science is carried out by journalists, voters, and politicians who have received their science secondhand. The Story of Western Science shows us the joy and importance of reading groundbreaking science writing for ourselves and guides us back to the masterpieces that have changed the way we think about our world, our cosmos, and ourselves.
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Good text, tedious book structure
- By Diane K. on 10-07-15
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The Genesis of Science
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- By: James Hannam
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If you were taught that the Middle Ages were a time of intellectual stagnation, superstition, and ignorance, you were taught a myth that has been utterly refuted by modern scholarship. As a physicist and historian of science James Hannam shows in his brilliant new book, The Genesis of Science: How the Christian Middle Ages Launched the Scientific Revolution, without the scholarship of the "barbaric" Middle Ages, modern science simply would not exist. The Middle Ages were a time of one intellectual triumph after another.
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Insightful!
- By John on 07-07-15
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A Mind at Play
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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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The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
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A good book may have the power to change the way we see the world, but a great book actually becomes part of our daily consciousness, pervading our thinking to the point that we take it for granted, and we forget how provocative and challenging its ideas once were - and still are. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is that kind of book.
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The problem is not with the book
- By Marcus on 08-09-09
By: Thomas S. Kuhn
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What listeners say about Significant Figures
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Ghost in the Ruins
- 10-24-20
Painful To Listen To
While the content is good, the fake accent and mispronunciations are just grating on the nerves. The narrator absolutely butchers the names of even the most commonly known mathematicians, and as another reviewer mentioned, he's from New Jersey and is faking his European accent. It's really hard to get to the content of the book because it's so painful to listen to.
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4 people found this helpful
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- O. Wright
- 01-03-20
Research pronunciations before you perform!
I can't imagine putting my name and voice to an internationally-distributed production without doing some basic research on how to pronounce things. "Euler" is pronounced "Oiler" not "Yooler".
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 12-18-18
narration grating, often difficult to understand
Although essentially another defense of the outdated undergraduate math curriculum, it has some interesting insights and is worth the read. But the narration is painfully difficult to listen to. Inconsistent and incorrect pronunciation - e.g., sometimes "Goss" and sometimes "Gas" and ocassionally "Gauss", but always uhler and Kuht Goodle. Never says parentheses. Always says bracket. Never says "of". Instead "eff open bracket ex close bracket". Ruins a serviceable collection of biographies
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9 people found this helpful
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- Crissy
- 03-02-18
excellent, but tough listen
probably the most rewarding history book that I've ever listened to. I need to give the guy who read the audio book a lot of credit, but I can't remember his name. He did a really good job though. Not all of that stuff is easy to talk about and sound excited. I'm not even sure that it's appropriate to sound excited. I liked it anyway. I learned a lot about all of these people some of them I didn't even really know existed and others I knew of but I gained a lot of insight on who they were from this book.
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- Jacques Dolan
- 01-25-18
Great stories, math made accessible to the novice
Where does Significant Figures rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
I like this audiobook most, because I think it is inspiring to people who like mathematics. Several other nonfiction audiobooks in similar areas are interesting, but many of the mathematical ones stop short of detail that illustrates how ingenious or special some of the mathematical thinkers were. I like that the ideas are here, they are accessible, but they aren't too watered down.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Significant Figures?
I learned a lot about integrable tops. It was fascinating to me how Kovalevskaya came into the picture.
Which character – as performed by Roger Clark – was your favorite?
I think Ramanujan's story is my favorite.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes, for sure, although I had to pause it occasionally to look up great mathematicians or mathematical ideas to get more detail (Poincare and topology especially).
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10 people found this helpful
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- David
- 03-14-22
Boring
It is a shame, I have listened to many physics and mathematics audiobooks. The issue with this one is that is boring. The narrative is not engaging.
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- May
- 07-18-23
Inspiring
This is hands down a new favorite for me. Very beautifully written and inspiring book on the history of many great mathematicians from different backgrounds. 100/10
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- James Litsios
- 06-03-19
Mostly entertaining while touching some deeper mathematical concepts
Good narrative, most chapters move at a good pace. Nicely gently touches some deeper math. Audio version just not fully convincing: did the narrator fully understand everything?
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- Christopher Strehlo
- 09-17-20
Narrator Roger Clark's accent legit
Roger Clark was born in New Jersey, raised in Ireland and trained in the U.K. He attended University of Glamorgan in Cardiff, Wales and achieved a BA in Theatre, Media and Drama. His professional acting debut was in 2000 with the Wales Actor's company and their production of 'Juno and the Paycock'. Most of his resume lies in theatre, voice over, television and motion capture. He has performed in a total of 45 countries and now lives and works in New York. --IMDB bio
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- Brian T. McGill
- 05-27-24
Lack of bridge to lesser Math
I have a first year calculus understanding of math. The second half of the book had many subjects that were lost on me. I would have got more out of the book if the author could have explained things in more detail.
The reader sounded to me like Roscoe Lee Browne, and I imagined Roscoe was reading it to me. It was a good job by the reader, as the subject matter was difficult.
It used to be that when I went into Starbucks they had several left wing newspapers to choose from. They did other things that were left wing political as well. I stopped going. I don't want to get pelted with left wing politics when I buy a drink.
I especially don't want it when I read a math book. After reading it I looked up his X profile, sure I would find his pronouns listed. Then I found out he doesn't use X because of the current ownership. I am sure adding his politics added cred to his university colleagues, but to a reader interested in the history of math, it is a turn-off.
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