More Details

Summary:

"We all know that numbers go on forever, that you could spend your life counting and never reach the end of the line, so there can't be such a thing as a 'biggest number.' Or can there? To find out, David Darling and Agnijo Banerjee embark on an epic quest, revealing the answers to questions like: are there more grains of sand on Earth or stars in the universe? Is there enough paper on Earth to write out the digits of a googolplex? And what is a googolplex? Then things get serious. Enter the strange realm between the finite and the infinite, and float through a universe where the rules we cling to no longer apply. Encounter the highest number computable and infinite kinds of infinity. At every turn, a cast of wild and wonderful characters threatens the status quo with their ideas, and each time the numbers get larger."-- [From back cover]

Table of Contents:

• Machine generated contents note: 1. Of Sand and Stars
• 2. At the Limits of Reality
• 3. Maths Unbound
• 4. Up, Up and Away
• 5. G Whizz
• 6. Conway's Chains
• 7. Ackermann and the Power of Recursion
• 8. Figure This
• If You Can
• 9. Infinite Matters
• 10. Growing Fast
• 11. Does Not Compute!
• 12. Strange World of the Googologist
• 13. Bridge to Beyond
• 14. Biggest Number of All.

Author/Creator:

Darling, David J. , author

Contributors:

Banerjee, Agnijo , author

Languages:

English

Language Notes:

Item content: English

Main Work:

The biggest number in the world: a journey to the edge of mathematics [by Darling, D.J.]

Subjects:

Mathematics — Miscellanea

Infinite

General Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-230, 233-240).
Description based on print version record.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

ISBNs:

9780861543069 (electronic bk.)
0861543068 (electronic bk.)
9780861543052 [Invalid]
086154305X [Invalid]

OCLC Numbers:

1306058753

Other Control Numbers:

EBC6918153 (source: MiAaPQ)
[Unknown Type]: ybp302790475