An imaginary tale
the story of [the square root of minus one]
by Paul J. Nahin · first published 1998
91% recommend9% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Readable popular history of the square root of minus one and complex numbers, telling how the idea developed; suits readers with some math interest who want the story and the 'why' behind the concepts.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
In An Imaginary Tale, Paul Nahin tells the 2000-year-old history of one of mathematics' most elusive numbers, the square root of minus one, also known as i, re-creating the baffling mathematical problems that conjured it up and the colorful characters who tried to solve them. Addressing readers with both a general and scholarly interest in mathematics, Nahin weaves into this narrative entertaining historical facts, mathematical discussions, and the application of complex numbers and functions to important problems.
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"An Imaginary Tale: The Story of √-1" by Paul J. Nahin is delightful. (If you liked this and want more.) http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9259.html
on “A Short History of Complex Numbers (2006) [pdf]” ↗…Havil, 2009) 8. The Man Who Loved Only Numbers (Paul Hoffman, 1999) 9. The Riemann Zeta-Function: Theory and Applications. (Alexander Ivic, 2004) 10. e: The Story of a Number (Eli Maor, 2009) 11. An Imaginary Tale: The Story of √-1 (Paul J. Nahin; 1998) 12. Dr. Euler’s Fabulous Formula (Paul J. Nahin; 2006) 13. Stalking the Riemann Hypothesis: The Quest to Find the Hidden Law of Prime Numbers (Dan Rockmore, 2006)…
on “The Riemann Hypothesis, explained” ↗I enjoy math books like: - e; The story of a number (Eli Moar) - An imaginary tale; The story of -1 (Paul Nahin) - The Poincare Conjecture (Daniel O'Shea) - The man who loved only numbers (Paul Hoffman) - Prime Obsession (John Derbyshire) They're part biography, part history, and give…
on “Why do many math books have so much detail and so little enlightenment? (2010)” ↗You could look for a math history book (such as "An Imaginary Tale" by Nahin) or something like the Princeton Companion to Mathematics or frankly any other popular math book written by established mathematicians.
on “A Visual, Intuitive Guide to Imaginary Numbers (2007)” ↗…Book - Aigner and Ziegler The Joy of x - Steven Strogatz Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension - Matt Parker What is Mathematics? - Courant and Robbins A History of PI - Petr Beckmann An Imaginary Tale - Paul Nahin e: The Story of a Number - Eli Maor Imagining Numbers - Barry Mazur Journey Through Genius - William Dunham Prime Obsession - John Derbyshire
on “Classic Mathematics Books for Lifelong Learners” ↗…book. The second half gets more into how various use cases developed, in those chapters basic college level calculus would be a major plus. I read it more than 10 years ago though so no promises. :) An Imaginary Tale: The Story of √-1 Paul J. Nahin https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691169248/an...
on “How imaginary numbers were invented [video]” ↗Here is fun, and rather short, book on the history of complex numbers that I liked -- https://www.amazon.com/Imaginary-Tale-Princeton-Science-Libr...
on “Quantum Physics Falls Apart Without Imaginary Numbers” ↗I read An Imaginary Tale and liked it. That being said, I have more enthusiasm than ability when it comes to maths. You might very well be beyond these books. In university libraries you can sort of pick out narrative/casual…
on “Math in Fiction – over 1000 short stories involving math or mathematicians” ↗…novels to really grasp the "why" of mathematics, so these are more to embellish your general understanding of "what is the point" type questions -- so things here like Euclid's Window come to mind, and "An Imaginary Tale: The story of square root minus one" will help explain complex numbers in more detail than you ever cared. Reading about the history of mathematics and the writings of some of the greats, like Rene Descartes,…
on “Books I Recommend” ↗As a random aside, if anyone wants a fun read, check out An Imaginary Tale: The Story of √-1
on “Quantum Physics Falls Apart Without Imaginary Numbers” ↗I have started reading the story of i: http://www.amazon.com/An-Imaginary-Tale-Story-square/dp/0691...
on “What are imaginary numbers?” ↗