Everything and More : A Compact History of Infinity
By David Foster WallaceOne of the outstanding voices of his generation, David Foster Wallace has won a large and devoted following for the intellectual ambition and bravura style of his fiction and essays. Now he brings his considerable talents to the history of one of math's most enduring puzzles: the seemingly paradoxical nature of infinity.
Is infinity a valid mathematical property or a meaningless abstraction? The nineteenth-century mathematical genius Georg Cantor's answer to this question not only surprised him but also shook the very foundations upon which math had been built. Cantor's counterintuitive discovery of a progression of larger and larger infinities created controversy in his time and may have hastened his mental breakdown, but it also helped lead to the development of set theory, analytic philosophy, and even computer technology.
Smart, challenging, and thoroughly rewarding, Wallace's tour de force brings immediate and high-profile recognition to the bizarre and fascinating world of higher mathematics.
Book details
- Hardcover
- 336 pages
- English
- 0393003388
- 9780393003383
About David Foster Wallace
More Books By David Foster Wallace
People who bought this also bought
We're Going to Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True
New Book
Mego Action Figure Toys: With Values (A Schiffer Book for Collectors)
Used Book
Jewish Days : A Book of Jewish Life and Culture around the Year
Used Book
The Ultimate Weight Solution (The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom) book by Phillip C. McGraw
Used Book
The Quark and the Jaguar: Adventures in the Simple and the Complex
Used Book
The Art of Being Alone: Solitude Is My HOME, Loneliness Was My Cage
New Book
A Twist of Faith: How Feminist Spirituality is changing the church and betraying the women it promised to heal
Used Book
Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
New Book
So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love by Cal Newport
New Book
Surrounded by Psychopaths : or, How to Stop Being Exploited by Others
New Book
Eat Right for Your Type : The Individualized Diet Solution to Staying Healthy, Living Longer and Achieving You Ideal Weight
New Book
The Red Hat Society : Fun and Friendship After Fifty
Used Book