The Music of the Primes: Why an Unsolved Problem in Mathematics Matters

It was fascinating to read about all these famous mathematicians and their backgrounds. It was great to be able to put a face, a personality and a background to an equation that I have been using for all my life, like Cauchy, Descartes, Hilbert, etc. However, his analogies about Riemann's Hypothesis were not very effective, and were very hard to get through, even though I am a mathematician. Also, the lack of an appendix at the end explaining the math of it was disappointing. I ended up skipping over the mathematical bits and just jumping to the parts where he talked about other mathematicians. Maybe I should read a history of math book instead?

More about the mathematicians than the mathematics (2/2 people found this helpful)

It's said that for every equation you include in a book, you halve the number of readers of that book. That said, this one should be a best-seller because it includes hardly any equations at all.

I was expecting to like this, as I've experienced some of the author's presentations on the TV and I was impressed by his style. However, this book was disappointingly thin on substance.

If you're interested in mathematicians as a breed (who isn't? - we're fascinating little devils) then this book should amuse you. Sometimes it comes across as a gossip-column. For a solid history of the Riemann conjecture, however, the mathematical detail is remarkable in its absence.

I compare this book to reading a review of a symphonic work - all very well to be told it's great, but I'd much rather be hearing it.

insightful and complete account on Riemann Conjecture (3/3 people found this helpful)

Being a mathematician myself I have always found it difficult to find a maths book that was, on one side of a level that could be followed without being sitting in a library with a great aount of reference books, and of the other of a level enough not to get bored. Sure this is the best i've read. It's written following historical line and it becomes apage turner, as if it were a novel

Very good, but could have been better... (8/8 people found this helpful)

I really wanted this book to be as good as Simon Singh's 'Fermat's Last Theorem', and while it shares many of the same characteristics as Singh's excellent debut, for me it didn't quite match up.

Of course, there my be a couple of simple reasons why this may have been so. Firstly, the Riemann Hypothesis is a rather more conceptually difficult mathematical problem to grasp than Pierre de Fermat's simple but elusive conjecture. Du Sautoy tries to deal with this by using analogies to landscapes and music, but due to the gaps between my reading sessions, I sometimes forgot the origin of the analogical thread, which meant I had to search back through the text to 'catch up'.

The other main reason why this book was less satisfying is because nobody has yet proven Riemann's Hypthesis to be true, whereas Fermat's Last Theorem was finally proven by Andrew Wiles in the 1990's.

Lastly, the book could have benefited from a series of notes or appendices linked to the text, through which the keen reader could gain a mathematical explanation of what was being described in the text. Again, Singh's book is a beautiful example of how this should be done.

Overall though, a very good book, which I am sure I will read again.

truly fantastic book (4/4 people found this helpful)

Hi,

This book is a brilliant and beautifully balanced introductory way to first explore the topic of 'number theory'.

The book uses techniques that explore the topics without burying them in the details and to have them see the problem in their minds eye. From beginnings of estimating the distributions of primes, through covering the 'Zeta' function, and why its so well-known. For example, this book gives a first-rate in clarity explanation of 'R.S.A' cryptography and how it works. I have read 'techie' manuals which confuse the whole topic unnecessarily but this has is marvellous clarity.

This is a beautiful written book, which deserves to be given coverage in sixth forms to generate more interest in mathematics. It's been a privilege to read this book and great fun to read.

The Music of the Primes: Why an Unsolved Problem in Mathematics Matters

Marcus du Sautoy

Reader Reviews:

Good but not great (0/0 people found this helpful)

More about the mathematicians than the mathematics (2/2 people found this helpful)

insightful and complete account on Riemann Conjecture (3/3 people found this helpful)

Very good, but could have been better... (8/8 people found this helpful)

truly fantastic book (4/4 people found this helpful)

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