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The Book of Wonders
- How Euclid’s Elements Built the World
- Narrated by: Paul Hilliar
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
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The Book of Wonders
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Summary
Euclid’s Elements of Geometry was a book that changed the world. In a sweeping history, Benjamin Wardhaugh traces how an ancient Greek text on mathematics - often hailed as the world’s first textbook - shaped 2,000 years of art, philosophy and literature, as well as science and maths.
Thirteen volumes of mathematical definitions, propositions and proofs. Writing in 300 BC, Euclid could not have known his logic would go unsurpassed until the 19th century or that his writings were laying down the very foundations of human knowledge.
Wardhaugh blasts the dust from Euclid’s legacy to offer not only a vibrant history of mathematics, told through people and invention, but also a broader story of culture. Telling stories from every continent, ranging between Ptolemy and Isaac Newton, Hobbes and Lewis Carrol, this is a history that dives from Ancient Greece to medieval Byzantium, early modern China, Renaissance Italy, the age of European empires, and our world today.
How has geometry sat at the beating heart of sculpture, literature, music and thought? How can one unknowable figure of antiquity live through two millennia?
Critic reviews
"An astonishingly readable and informative history of the greatest mathematical best seller of all time, from ancient Greece to dark energy. The writing is vivid and the stories are gripping. Highly recommended!" (Ian Stewart, author of Significant Figures)
"Benjamin Wardhaugh is an excellent storyteller and his collected short story approach to the history of The Elements works splendidly...simultaneously educational, entertaining and illuminating.... A highly desirable read for all those, both professional and amateur, who interest themselves in the histories of mathematics, science and knowledge...over almost two and a half millennia." (Thony Christie, The Renaissance Mathematicus)
What listeners say about The Book of Wonders
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Alex Cutbill
- 05-08-23
A masterpiece
An amazing and wide-ranging book that deserves to be more widely read. The narration is also excellent and brings out the nuances of the text and gives life to the historical characters who appear.
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