The first popular history of irrational numbers and their discoverers,
from ancient Greece to the twenty-first century
The ancient Greeks discovered them, but it wasn't until the nineteenth
century that irrational numbers were properly understood and rigorously
defined, and even today not all their mysteries have been revealed. In
The Irrationals, the first popular and comprehensive book on the
subject, Julian Havil tells the story of irrational numbers and the
mathematicians who have tackled their challenges, from antiquity to the
twenty-first century. Along the way, he explains why irrational numbers
are surprisingly difficult to define--and why so many questions still
surround them. Fascinating and illuminating, this is a book for everyone
who loves math and the history behind it.