The music of the primes
Searching to Solve the Greatest Mystery in Mathematics
by Marcus du Sautoy · first published 2003
83% recommend17% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Accessible, well-written popular history of prime number theory and the Riemann hypothesis, with stories of the mathematicians involved. Suits curious non-experts, students, and parents wanting to show kids what math is.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2021–2022Mathematical Concepts
Jürgen Jost
Recommended by 2 · mentioned by 22 recommend · 2 mention2 recommend · 22 recommend
2011–2026Prime Obsession
John Derbyshire
Recommended by 22 · mentioned by 2622 recommend · 26 mention22 recommend · 2622 recommend
2015–2026How to Think About Analysis
Lara Alcock
Recommended by 15 · mentioned by 1615 recommend · 16 mention15 recommend · 1615 recommend
2012–2025Understanding digital signal processing
Richard G. Lyons
Recommended by 11 · mentioned by 1411 recommend · 14 mention11 recommend · 1411 recommend
2013–2024Mathematical proofs
Gary Chartrand, Albert D. Polimeni, Zhang, Ping, Ping Zhang
Recommended by 17 · mentioned by 2017 recommend · 20 mention17 recommend · 2017 recommend
2009–2026Discrete Mathematics with Applications
Susanna S. Epp, Susanna Epp
Recommended by 18 · mentioned by 2918 recommend · 29 mention18 recommend · 2918 recommend
2008–2026Nonlinear dynamics and Chaos
Steven H. Strogatz, Steven Strogatz
Recommended by 24 · mentioned by 2924 recommend · 29 mention24 recommend · 2924 recommend
2012–2024The Day the Universe Changed
Burke, James
Recommended by 15 · mentioned by 2015 recommend · 20 mention15 recommend · 2015 recommend
…recommendations of my own... A math teacher in school very kindly leant me a biography of James Clerk Maxwell (might have been 'The Man Who Changed Everything' but I'm not sure) and Marcus du Sautoy's 'Music of the Primes.' They were both great introductions, and definitely changed my thinking.
on “So You Want to Learn Physics” ↗One of my favourite stories about André Weil from the book "The Music of the Primes" written by Marcus du Sautoy: > He wrote to his wife, Eveline, on April 7, 1940, telling her, 'My mathematics work is proceeding beyond my wildest hopes, and I am even a bit worried - if it is only in…
on “My Father André Weil (2018) [pdf]” ↗…a 7 year old (and another one on the way :)) , I find the following books wonderful. They evoke wonder in me and hopefully I will be able to transmit some of this to the kids . 1. Euclid's Window 2. Music of the primes
on “Ask HN: Books that made you fascinated to learn more mathematics?” ↗…textbook: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/High_School_Mathematics_Extensi... - there's a whole lot of rigarous but accessible introductions to some pertinent mathematical concepts. Marcus du Sautoy's 'The Music of the Primes' is also great as a bit of light reading to give you a sense of the history (and some very basic mathematical concepts) of the subject. Cheers, Tim
on “Ask HN: the road to learning useful math” ↗I'm surprised there aren't any listings for Marcus du Sautoy. "The Num8er My5teries", "The Music of the Primes" - are delightful. Also, "Fermat's Enigma" by Simon Singh is riveting. My other recent favorite: "Incompleteness: The Proof and Paradox of Kurt Gödel" by Rebecca Goldstein. A highly readable biography…
on “Great Math Books as Recommended by Our Readers” ↗He also writes on mathematics, and presented a TV series on mathematics which occasionally appears on BBC Four. Currently I have, and am enjoying, his book The Music of The Primes. Useful links in these discussions, by the way, including the link in the original post. Thank you.
on “Marcus du Sautoy's "Brief History of Mathematics" (10 MP3 episodes)” ↗I first learned about this guys work in The Music of the Primes by Marcus du Sautoy. Excellent read for anyone interested in these topics. I understand maybe one hundredth of the mathematics and it's still seriously fascinating.
on “Ramanujan's Notebooks” ↗…this. I picked up Mr. Singh's book (Fermat's Enigma) at a yard sale quite a few years ago, and found it to be a good read. If this sort of thing is up your alley, two other similar books I've read: Music of the Primes: http://www.amazon.com/Music-Primes-Searching-Greatest-Mathem... The Rainbow of Mathematics: http://www.amazon.com/Rainbow-Mathematics-History-Mathematic...
on “Fermat's Last Theorem documentary (1996)” ↗By the way, if you are at all interested in this subject, even in the slightest, I highly recommend reading Music of the Primes.
on “Quantum physics sheds light on Riemann hypothesis” ↗And Marcus du Sautoy's "The Music of the Primes: Searching to Solve the Greatest Mystery in Mathematics" [1] is an even nicer one. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Music_of_the_Primes
on “Dreaming of prime numbers in short intervals” ↗…start exploring what math actually is, which fields there are and where they come from, what some famous open problems are and what beauty means to mathematicians. Good popular maths books are e.g. The Music of the Primes by Marcus du Sautoy [1] or Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh [2]. It's also important to note that there are no shortcuts - it takes at least 1-2 years of studying maths to start to understand the…
on “New math book rescues landmark topology proof” ↗"The Music of the Primes" by Marcus du Sautoy, about history of prime number theory and the Riemann hypothesis. Beautiful and inspiring.
on “Ask HN: The book that did it for you in math and/or CS?” ↗"The Music of the Primes" by Marcus du Sautoy (2003), has a great section on the work of of Paul Erdòs. eg > "Erdòs, like so many great mathematicians, was lucky to have a father who could expose him to ideas that would stimulate…
on “A life that added up to something (Obituary of Paul Erdòs)” ↗The excellent mathematical history "The Music of the Primes" by Marcus du Sautoy covers this period: "Within the space of a few weeks, Hitler had destroyed the great Gottingen tradition forged by Gauss, Riemann, Dirichlet and Hilbert. One commentator wrote that…
on “A Math Lesson From Hitler’s Germany (2017)” ↗"The Music of the Primes" by Marcus du Sautoy
on “Ask HN: Books that made you fascinated to learn more mathematics?” ↗