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A Tour of the Calculus

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A Tour of the Calculus

By: David Berlinski
Narrated by: Dennis Holland
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About this listen

Were it not for the calculus, mathematicians would have no way to describe the acceleration of a motorcycle or the effect of gravity on thrown balls and distant planets, or to prove that a man could cross a room and eventually touch the opposite wall. Just how calculus makes these things possible and in doing so finds a correspondence between real numbers and the real world is the subject of this dazzling book by a writer of extraordinary clarity and stylistic brio. Even as he initiates us into the mysteries of real numbers, functions, and limits, Berlinski explores the furthest implications of his subject, revealing how the calculus reconciles the precision of numbers with the fluidity of the changing universe.

©1995 David Berlinski (P)2013 Audible Inc. History History & Philosophy Mathematics Science
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Beautifully written and so well narrated, the subject matter rather bruised my brain but nevertheless it was an enjoyable listen. Obviously an interest in math is an essential requirement for the listener. An accompanying PDF would benefit this book.

Entertaining

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Not your typical maths book. Listening to this book as a layman, I found it thorougly mentally stimulating, although it did send me off into a haze every now and then. I'll probably end up listening to it more than once. If you like David Berlinki's other works then you'll probably like this. Other Reviewers who didn't like this book might have been expecting a sort of Mathematics text book style work. If you are too, then this might not be your cup of tea. Listen to the sample and if you're not feeling it then maybe you might want to give this book a miss, imo

Mathematics meets Philosophy...

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So far the worst I have heard. I think the problem is mostly the content of the book. It's meant to be about maths but the guy goes on like it is some sort of creative writing contest.

I don't want to listen to a 15 minute description about some guys probable room layout 400 years ago, or how he rubs his forehead thinking. Just get on with the damn topic.

If the author is so interested in creative writing why not go do a romantic novel and list it as such. Don't try pass it for maths.

Boring

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