Infinite Powers is shortlisted for the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize
About the book
The captivating story of mathematics' greatest ever idea: calculus. Without it, there would be no computers, no microwave ovens, no GPS, and no space travel. But before it gave modern man almost infinite powers, calculus was behind centuries of controversy, competition, and even death.
Taking us on a thrilling journey through three millennia, Professor Steven Strogatz charts the development of this seminal achievement, from the days of Archimedes to today's breakthroughs in chaos theory and artificial intelligence. Filled with idiosyncratic characters from Pythagoras to Fourier, Infinite Powers is a compelling human drama that reveals the legacy of calculus in nearly every aspect of modern civilisation, including science, politics, medicine, philosophy, and more.
About the author
Steven Strogatz is the professor of applied mathematics at Cornell University, where he has taught since 1994. A renowned teacher and one of the world's most highly cited mathematicians, Steven is the author of the bestselling The Joy of X: A Guided Tour of Mathematics, from One to Infinity. Steven lives in Ithaca, New York, USA.
