The Music of the Primes : Searching to Solve the Greatest Mystery in Mathematics

Rating:
Summary: way too little substance
Review: What I learned from this book could probably have been much better communicated through a well-written magazine article. There's very little mathematics and very little history. Even worse, what's in this book struck me as a little too simplistic to be altogether true. I'm no expert, but the concept of primes as the 'atoms' of mathematics seems a bit exaggerated. Though clearly an important result for number theory, I also wonder whether the Riemann hypothesis (which has to do with zeros along the critical line of a zeta function) has really single-handedly been responsible for as much mathematical progression as the author claims. My sense is that the author was willing to leave out many details and exaggerate others in order to increase the drama of his story. Lastly, and I'll grant that this is just my taste, I don't quite understand the author's need to invent and stick with non-standard phrases. Once introduced, would it really have been a big deal to move from 'clock arithmetic' to 'modular arithmetic' or from 'sea-level' to 'zero'? Good books that are popular and true to mathematics exist (see Singh's 'Fermat's Enigma' or Nasar's 'A Beautiful Mind'). I don't think this is one of them.

Rating:
Summary: way too little substance
Review: What I learned from this book could probably have been much better communicated through a well-written magazine article. There's very little mathematics and very little history. Even worse, what's in this book struck me as a little too simplistic to be altogether true. I'm no expert, but the concept of primes as the 'atoms' of mathematics seems a bit exaggerated. Though clearly an important result for number theory, I also wonder whether the Riemann hypothesis (which has to do with zeros along the critical line of a zeta function) has really single-handedly been responsible for as much mathematical progression as the author claims. My sense is that the author was willing to leave out many details and exaggerate others in order to increase the drama of his story. Lastly, and I'll grant that this is just my taste, I don't quite understand the author's need to invent and stick with non-standard phrases. Once introduced, would it really have been a big deal to move from 'clock arithmetic' to 'modular arithmetic' or from 'sea-level' to 'zero'? Good books that are popular and true to mathematics exist (see Singh's 'Fermat's Enigma' or Nasar's 'A Beautiful Mind'). I don't think this is one of them.

Rating:
Summary: Discover the history of prime numbers
Review: Written with a certain flare, this book brings the history of prime numbers to life, and makes you want to join the search for the solutions behind their mysteries.

I must admit, this book will not help you understand a whole lot of complicated mathematical concepts. It does give some pretty good descritptions of certain mathematical proofs, such as why there must be an infinite number of primes, and it has a rather nice explaination of how prime numbers are used in cryptography, but this book is not about understanding all the math behind the primes, but instead about all the scientists, mathematicians, and thinkers who have changed the way we think about primes. The history of prime numbers is described with great detail and passion, and how prime numbers are being used today will certainly make you wish you knew their secret.