Six Maths Essentials: How to Model the World
Oct 2026 · Random House
Ebook
96
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
About this ebook
The ‘Mozart of mathematics’ (New York Times) takes us on a tour of the core ideas of mathematical thinking
In Six Maths Essentials, the renowned mathematician Terence Tao shows how mathematics has evolved from counting and geometry into a flexible set of tools for understanding an increasingly complex world. He moves effortlessly from children discovering infinity through play, to the numbers that underpin our online lives; from Johannes Kepler using algebra to price a barrel of wine, to curved geometries that explain why GPS works and planes don’t fly in straight lines on a map. Along the way, dice games, insurance policies and financial crises illuminate probability’s promise—and its limits—while deceptively simple rules give rise to chaos, pattern and life itself.
In Six Maths Essentials, the renowned mathematician Terence Tao shows how mathematics has evolved from counting and geometry into a flexible set of tools for understanding an increasingly complex world. He moves effortlessly from children discovering infinity through play, to the numbers that underpin our online lives; from Johannes Kepler using algebra to price a barrel of wine, to curved geometries that explain why GPS works and planes don’t fly in straight lines on a map. Along the way, dice games, insurance policies and financial crises illuminate probability’s promise—and its limits—while deceptively simple rules give rise to chaos, pattern and life itself.
Playful and wise, this is the best entry point for understanding how mathematics works. Contrary to popular perception, maths, Tao insists, isn’t magic—it's a powerful way of thinking from first principles and modelling the world that anyone can learn.
The ‘Mozart of mathematics’ (New York Times) takes us on a tour of the core ideas of mathematical thinking
In Six Maths Essentials, the renowned mathematician Terence Tao shows how mathematics has evolved from counting and geometry into a flexible set of tools for understanding an increasingly c...
About the author
Terence Tao is an Australian American professor of mathematics based at UCLA. The recipient of a Fields Medal, a MacArthur Genius Grant and a Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics, among many other accolades, he is one of the most decorated and prolific mathematicians working today.
Terence Tao is an Australian American professor of mathematics based at UCLA. The recipient of a Fields Medal, a MacArthur Genius Grant and a Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics, among many other accolades, he is one of the most decorated and prolific mathematicians working today.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
