A biographical sketch of ten curves - how they came to be, their importance in the past, and their continuing relevance today.
Julian Havil is the author of John Napier: Life, Logarithms, and Legacy; The Irrationals: A Story of the Numbers You Can't Count On; Impossible? Surprising Solutions to Counterintuitive Conundrums; Nonplussed! Mathematical Proof of Implausible Ideas; and Gamma: Exploring Euler's Constant (all Princeton). He is a retired former master at Winchester College, England, where he taught mathematics for more than three decades.
"This is not your father’s – or grandfather’s – standard collection
of conic sections."---Jim Stein, New Books Network
"Undoubtedly [this book], written in the same entertaining
unmistakable style of the author and containing a lot of
information - mathematical, historical and general - will attract,
as the previous ones, a large audience."---S. Cobzas, Studia
Mathematica
"What a beautiful book!"---Jonathan Shock, Mathemafrica.org
"A wonderful addition to libraries where the mathematically curious
find their reading."
*Choice*
"Havil’s narrative for each curve is a cornucopia of fun facts and
rigorous explanation."---Andrew J. Simoson, Mathematical
Intelligencer
"Overall, the book was a delight to read. The writing is witty and
entertaining, the history is at times peculiar and surprising, and
the mathematics is rich and engaging. It would make a fine addition
to a classroom bookcase or home coffee table, but while there are
plenty of elegant diagrams and intriguing stories to give every
curious reader the chance to glimpse mathematical beauty, only
those with the ability to dig beneath the surface will understand
just how much beauty this book has to offer."---Samuel Hewitt,
Mathematical Gazette
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