E, The Story of a NumberEli Maor

E, The Story of a Number

by Eli Maor · first published 2000

8mentions

8recommended by

8HN commenters

2009–2021first – last mentioned

100% recommend

Why HN recommends it

Popular history of the number e, weaving its mathematics with the people behind it. Praised for including some equations while staying readable; suited to readers who enjoy math history and popular math books.

Summarised by Claude from recommending comments

Mathematics

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What Hacker News says

a3n · Aug 3, 2015 · Recommends

…http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Gardner/e/B000AP8X8G/ref=sr_ntt... Donald Knuth. http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Gardner/e/B000AP8X8G/ref=sr_ntt... Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About, Knuth. e: The Story of a Number, Maor. The Pythagorean Theorem: a 4000-year history, Maor. Flatland, Abbot. Snowcrash, Stevenson. Johnny Mnemonic, Gibson.
on “Ask HN: What recreational books related to programming can you recommend?” ↗
jorgenveisdal · Jan 7, 2017 · Recommends

…1971) 7. Gamma: Exploring Euler’s Constant (Julian 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…
on “The Riemann Hypothesis, explained” ↗
tom_b · Oct 30, 2009 · Recommends

For those of you interested in a longer look at this, check out "E, the Story of a Number" by Eli Maor. Yes, I read when I should probably be hacking.
on “Why is e^(pi i) = -1?” ↗
raintrees · Feb 16, 2019 · Recommends

…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” ↗
lunchladydoris · Nov 25, 2021 · Recommends

If you want to go deeper, Eli Maor's "e: The Story of a Number" [0] is a great read that doesn't shy away from showing a few equations. [0]: https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691168487/e-...
on “Euler’s number pops up in situations that involve optimality” ↗
matt_j · May 15, 2017 · Recommends

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…
on “Why do many math books have so much detail and so little enlightenment? (2010)” ↗
kevin_thibedeau · Oct 27, 2021 · Recommends

I can recommend "e: The Story of a Number". It has a good explanation of transcendentals along with an informative dive into the history and significance of e.
on “Where transcendental numbers hide in everyday math” ↗
vinayms · May 15, 2018 · Recommends

…find the appropriate pdf versions. These books worked for me. They are in my home library and I try to flip through some of them once a year. For maths, books like Prime Obsession by John Derbyshire, e The story of a Number by Eli Moar, Number by Tobias Dantzig, The Unknown Quantity by John Derbyshire provide good orientation for number theory, analysis & calculus and algebra. The second book might be tough to finish as…
on “Ask HN: How do I learn math/physics in my thirties?” ↗