Huge Numbers

A charming tour through the realm of the very, very, very numerous, from the ancient world through to the distant future – Jordan Ellenberg, author of HOW NOT TO BE WRONGHumanity has always been entranced by big numbers - the bigger the better. This fascinating exploration of the giants of the mathematical world is clear, informative, and immensely readable. Wonderful! – Ian Stewart, author of IN PURSUIT OF THE UNKNOWNElwes provides a phenomenal scenic tour of googology (the study of huge numbers), covering everything from ancient Mayan and Babylonian numeral systems to the scale of the universe to the dizzyingly fast-growing functions of mathematical logic. I wish I had written this book – Scott Aaronson, author of WHO CAN NAME THE BIGGER NUMBERPRAISE FOR RICHARD ELWES * - *Fascinating! A brilliantly conceived book on the history, working and going-ons of mathematics … get a copy and become the maths boffin your teacher always wished you were * Vision Magazine *Elwes takes the key concepts, perfectly illustrates them with practical examples and easy-to-follow explanations, and applies the principles to everyday situations. The effect is strangely liberating, and you might soon find yourself acquiring a love of logarithms and a respect for reflex quadrilaterals * Good Book Guide *

Richard Elwes is a senior lecturer at the University of Leeds and a Holgate Session Leader for the London Mathematical Society. He writes for New Scientist and recently joined the crew at Numberphile, presenting episodes about the very largest numbers in modern mathematics.