A History of Pi

Name: A History of Pi
Brand: Tantor Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Petr Beckmann
ISBN: 9781630150044

Author: Petr Beckmann

Narrator: Stephen R. Thorne

Unabridged: 6 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/18/2019

Categories: Nonfiction, Mathematics

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included

Synopsis

The history of pi, says the author, though a small part of the history of mathematics, is nevertheless a mirror of the history of man. Petr Beckmann holds up this mirror, giving the background of the times when pi made progress—and also when it did not, because science was being stifled by militarism or religious fanaticism.

About Petr Beckmann

Petr Beckmann was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1924. Until 1963, he worked as a research scientist for the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, when he was invited as a visiting professor to the University of Colorado, where he decided to stay permanently as professor of electrical engineering. He has authored eleven books and more than fifty scientific papers, mostly on probability theory and electromagnetic wave propagation.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Andrew on April 22, 2013

I received this book on March 14, during my annual pi day celebration. We had finished the pizza, but hadn’t gotten to the apple pie yet. We were listening to a special music mix for the occasion, including “Circle Dream,” by 10,000 maniacs, “Wagon Wheel,” by Old Crow Medicine Show and of course, “A......more

Goodreads review by Joe on March 01, 2020

Great book. If you enjoy reading about the history of math, you'll enjoy this book. Even if you skip over the equations.......more

Goodreads review by Chad on October 11, 2008

The fact that it was written in 1971 adds a little bit of out-of-date flavor that makes "A History of Pi" a lot more amusing than it otherwise might have been. As a history of pi, it kind of doesn't really work for a couple of reasons. First of all, its not really a history of pi. Its more like a his......more