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Infinite Powers, by Steven Strogatz
An enjoyable read, and did a great job of illuminating the importance and
really the amazing fact of how well our mathematical systems work to describe the
natural world. In many ways, we have no business being able to do so with such
effectiveness! And it should always remain a source of awe and wonder that we, as
small beings on a small world in a small galaxy, have done so this well, in many cases.
This book worked best as an inspirational 'history of Calculus' exercise, tracing it's
development and the key players over the years. I think what the author really hoped to
focus on was the incredible ways that Calculus pops up all over different areas of study
and aspects of human life, basically anywhere a continuous systems can be defined. In large
part these examples seemed like a bit of a reach, though his passion for the subject is
never a bad thing. The examples that land, however, are sound and coupled with the history
lesson make this an enjoyable, even folksy at times, read.
Also, the bibliography is quite rich, and many classic and important and interesting texts
were leveraged by the author in service of his examples. Digging through there may prove to
be an even more valuable experience than this text itself, and I've included images below for
the dedicated reader who wants a few new book ideas.
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