I really like it. There are lots of popular science books out there, but very few popular math ones. I am grateful that this exists.
Read the author's Code Book before. Liked that one, too. I was also taking Cryptography and Cybersecurity as one of my Master's electives.
This book does not cover the journey of solving the Fermat's Last Theorem narrowly, but broadly covers a lot of history of mathematics in a very nice way. The writing is superb.
Seconded, the subject matter is fascinating and the human story of Wiles' difficult journey and ultimate accomplishment is gripping. One of the books I've most enjoyed ever on any topic, let alone in popular science / maths. It's Singh's best work.
I would recommend "Fermat's Enigma" by Simon Singh. It's is book that goes into the heart of how mathematics is sometimes elusive to the most sincere pursuit and at the same time yields itself to a creative mind that chases it with passion.
Absolutely my favorite pop-sci/pop-math book of all time, if you can call it that.
That's because it's the only book I know which is in a good sweet spot between being a true pop-math book, giving the history and context of math (kind of like, say, Fermat's Enigma by Simon Singh), but while also being a real math book, and actually teaching real maths and real proofs of all the theorems talked about. There are some similar books, but most don't get the mix right, and even the ones that do, are just not as good.
Such a wonderful wonderful book. Do you have any other recommendations for similar books?
Two incredible general interest math books came out this year: The Big Bang of Numbers and The Joy or Abstraction. Both are brilliantly written and convey sophisticated math concepts for general intellectual development versus math specialists. The later book gave me a good foundation for some ideas in category theory I still hadn’t internalized on an intuitive level after reading more conventional academic works.
I read a bit the chapter about the distribution of prime numbers. I could follow because I have an Msc in maths (not in number theory) but the progression is fast, and while I don't think one needs an advanced background to read it, one needs to be used to formal reasoning, and I feel like the author is moving fast, so I guess for someone with a low background in maths it would be a hard (but not impossible) read.
Maths tutor here. At that age I was very inspired by Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh. It's not a technical book but gave me my first idea of what mathematicians actually do and how the process works. This book motivated me to major in maths.
Anything by Ian Stewart would also be good, 'Letters to a Young Mathematician' springs to mind.
Given that you use the word 'maths' with an s I'm guessing you're not American. If you're British like me, I would recommend avoiding American books for high schoolers because they will assume quite different prerequisites.
I’m the same with several books that I’ve bought over the years.
For a classic book dealing with “big” topics like math, music, and philosophy, it’s surprisingly accessible because Hofstadter is able explain complex things in the simplest way possible, which is a hallmark of great writing (not to mention great intellect).
My aptitude in math is slightly above average at best (and way below among my fellow geeks, who tend to be good at stuff like that), so I think you’ll be fine when you do decide to crack it open.
That's a great book. It's got a lot of number theory and dynamical systems as well, and the topics covered fit really well with experimentation using a computer.
In a similar, but different, vein, I also recommend Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges. Do not be turned off by the useless film adaptation. The book is intelligent and fascinating, and more aimed at someone with an undergraduate level understanding of math and logic, rather than a general layperson.
A math history book about one specific area of study written more in a popsci style that I liked: one of my favorite authors (David Foster Wallace) wrote "Everything & More: A Compact History of Infinity" which I'd call a 7/10 pop math experience and a 6/10 DFW experience, which is still a pretty good deal.
If you're no Math PhD but you are mathematically inclined (e.g. I studied plenty of math as an undergraduate but left to play the software industry game thereafter) you should have the errata document handy (I'll link the parent page that has other paratext [1]) - the author is a math enthusiast but not a mathematician and gets some of the finer details incorrect.
I also read Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh and recall liking it, but I can't recall if it holds up under either mathematical scrutiny or the scrutiny of a more refined palate.
The Code Book
Big Bang
He has an amazing ability to go really deep into what he's explaining. No hand waving over the details. And yet, it's so very readable.
Unfortunately that wasn't true with his other book - Fermat's Theorem - probably because the subject matter was too complex?
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