Book Description

Richard Elwes is a writer, teacher and researcher in Mathematics, visiting fellow at the University of Leeds, and contributor to numerous popular science magazines. He is a committed and recognized popularizer of mathematics. Of Elwes, Sonder Books 2011 Standouts said, "Dr. Elwes is brilliant at giving the reader the broad perspective, with enough details to fascinate, rather than confuse." Math in 100 Key Breakthroughs offers a series of short, clear-eyed essays explaining the fundamentals of the mathematical concepts everyone should know. Professor Richard Elwes profiles the most important, groundbreaking, and astonishing discoveries, which together have profoundly influenced our understanding of the universe. From the origins of counting--traced back to more than 35,000 years ago--to such contemporary breakthroughs as Wiles' Proof of Fermat's Last Theorem and Cook & Woolfram's Rule 110, this compulsively readable book tells the story of discovery, invention, and inspiration that have led to humankind's most important mathematical achievements.