King of Infinite Space: Donald Coxeter, the Man Who Saved Geometry
by Siobhan Roberts
List Price:
Our Price: $6.96
You Save: $20.99 (75%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.87 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Siobhan RobertsEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-09-05
ISBN: 0802714994
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Walker & Company
Book Reviews of King of Infinite Space: Donald Coxeter, the Man Who Saved Geometry
Book Review: A Giant among Giants!
Summary: 5 Stars
If you enjoy Mathematics and particularly Recreational Mathematics;you'll find this book a real treasure trove. This book touches on so many interests I've had over the years,that I was mesmerized how one thing after another kept popping up.I have been interested in Recreational Mathematics,Puzzles and a wide range of things these pursuits lead to. I have over 500 books in my library connected to these interests in one way or another,but this book really shines in that it covers so much and over such a long period.
Starting off with the author's name. It's pronounced "she-von" and is the Irish form of Joan,a name which was introduced into Ireland by the Anglo-Normans.It has been anglicized as Judith and Julia.
I have also developed an interest in the concept of "connections" and as one goes through the fascinating journey of Coxeter's life ,connections endlessly come up. I started getting interested in puzzles in school during the early 50's and have never ceased to be drawn to them.
It's amazing how one encounters things without really trying.Two years ago ,while Birding at Pointe Peele,another obsession;things were quiet one evening,and I was doing some Sudoku puzzles when a young lad came by. I got him interested,and his uncle also came by. He told me that if I liked puzzles,I should meet his friend who constructs amazing stick and ball models.I took him up on it and met a retired engineer ,like myself,and for a whole afternoon,he showed me a number of models he had constructed.They were fascinating polyhedra,similar to those being held by Coxeter on the cover of this book. One big difference though;he used wooden balls,about 3/4" diam. and sticks about 1/8" diam. to construct his models. He painted the balls different colors to emphasize their positions in the structure. This approach allows the internal structure of the model to be seen. They remind me of the way chemistry uses similar balls and sticks to display molecular structures.This man told me about Coxeter and that he discussed his models with him and how he actually built a computer to determine what stellations of models were or were not possible to construct.At a later visit to his home,he showed me dozens of other models he had constructed and even a machine he had built to drill the holes in the balls. By that time I had turned up "Polyhedron Models" by Magnus Wenninger and my friend told me he also discussed these models with him.He gave me one of his models and it is one of my prized possessions.
Later on I found Wenninger's website,and if you'd like to see his wonderful models,visit it.
So, naturally,when I got Robert,s book,I knew it would be of great interest.
Although I had purchased Rouse Ball's "Mathematical Recreations" in 1960,and had even constructed a Rotating Ring of tetrahedra,I hadn't noticed that Coxeter had done the revision.
I recently read "The Universal Book of Mathematics" by David Darling,(see my review on June 22,2007)and found it a very handy reference as I read this book.
There is so much covered in this book ,one hardly knows where to start in writing a review. It has us meeting so many people in Coxeter's world;Einstein ,Buckminister Fuller,M.C.Escher,Martin Gardner,Paul Erdos,and on and on.You will meet their families ,students,likes and passions. There great minds are the people who have been in the forefront of Mahematics during the 20th Century and all who took over and expanded the horizons of the great Mathematicians who paved the way.
Like ,in the world of music, there are the great composers and great players,but even though most of us can never really enter their worlds or minds,we can thankfully still enjoy and appreciate their work. Such is the same with mathematics.
I was glad to read where M.C.Echer couldn't begin to follow Coxeter when he tried to explain math to him.It just confirms that one does not necessarily have to understand something to enjoy it. Even Coxeter understood that, and felt likewise about many areas of math and science.
If there is anything that this book really brought home to me is that it shows why I have enjoyed my pursuits in Recreational Mathematics and Puzzles so much over the years.
On top of being a wonderful biography on the life of Donald Coxeter and his associates and friends;it is a goldmine of a reference. 63 pages of Endnotes provide endless resource information;coupled with 13 pages of Bibliography and an extremly well compiled Index;makes this a major reference source that I will turn to often.
Scientists Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Scientists Books
Measure for Measure: A Musical History of Scienceby Thomas Levenson
Oxford Univ Pr (Txt); Published: 1997-10; Hardcover; Book
The Garden of Invention: Luther Burbank and the Business of Breeding Plantsby Jane S. Smith
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2010-02-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.36
Price in other shops:
Don't You Have Time to Thinkby Richard P Feynman
Penguin; Published: 2006; Paperback; Book
Science at the Extreme: Scientists on the Cutting Edge of Discoveryby Peter Lane Taylor
McGraw-Hill Companies; Published: 2000-08-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.15
Price in other shops:
Enigmas of Chance: An Autobiography (Alfred P. Sloan Foundation series)by Mark Kac
Harpercollins; Published: 1985-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $125.00
Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earthby Andrew Smith
Harper Perennial; Published: 2006-08-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.60
Price in other shops:
Alfred Tarski: Life and Logic (Cambridge Concise Histories)by Anita Burdman Feferman, Solomon Feferman
Cambridge University Press; Published: 2008-04-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.97
Price in other shops:
The Beat of a Different Drum: The Life and Science of Richard Feynmanby Jagdish Mehra
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1994-03-31; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $157.74
For Spacious Skies: The Uncommon Journey of a Mercury Astronautby Scott Carpenter, Kris Stoever
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Published: 2003-01-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.24
Price in other shops:
Off the Planet: Surviving Five Perilous Months Aboard the Space Station Mirby Jerry M. Linenger
McGraw-Hill; Published: 2000-12-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.50
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
The Fifty-Nine Icosahedraby H. S. Coxeter
Tarquin; Published: 1999-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $21.00
Non-Euclidean Geometry (Mathematical Association of America Textbooks)by H. S. M. Coxeter
The Mathematical Association of America; Published: 1998-09-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $37.11
Price in other shops:
Projective Geometryby H.S.M. Coxeter
Springer; Published: 2003-10-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $35.32
Price in other shops:
What Is Mathematics? An Elementary Approach to Ideas and Methodsby Richard Courant, Herbert Robbins
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1996-07-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.99
Price in other shops:
The Best Writing on Mathematics 2011Princeton University Press; Published: 2011-11-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.15
Price in other shops:
Magical Mathematics: The Mathematical Ideas that Animate Great Magic Tricksby Persi Diaconis, Ron Graham
Princeton University Press; Published: 2011-10-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $18.67
Price in other shops:
Euler's Gem: The Polyhedron Formula and the Birth of Topologyby David S. Richeson
Princeton University Press; Published: 2008-09-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.59
Price in other shops:
The Beauty of Geometry: Twelve Essays (Dover Books on Mathematics)by H. S. M. Coxeter
Dover Publications; Published: 1999-07-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.48
Price in other shops:
Geometry Revisited (Mathematical Association of America Textbooks)by H. S. M. Coxeter, Samuel L. Greitzer
The Mathematical Association of America; Published: 1967; Paperback; Book
Best price: $28.16
Price in other shops:
Regular Polytopes (Dover Books on Mathematics)by H. S. M. Coxeter, Mathematics
Dover Publications; Published: 1973-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.62
Price in other shops: