Thinking in numbers

The irresistibly engaging book that "enlarges one's wonder at Tammet's mind and his all-embracing vision of the world as grounded in numbers."--Oliver Sacks, MD THINKING IN NUMBERS is the book that Daniel Tammet, mathematical savant and bestselling author, was born to write. In Tammet's world, numbers are beautiful and mathematics illuminates our lives and minds. Using anecdotes, everyday examples, and ruminations on history, literature, and more, Tammet allows us to share his unique insights and delight in the way numbers, fractions, and equations underpin all our lives. Inspired variously by the complexity of snowflakes, Anne Boleyn's eleven fingers, and his many siblings, Tammet explores questions such as why time seems to speed up as we age, whether there is such a thing as an average person, and how we can make sense of those we love. His provocative and inspiring new book will change the way you think about math and fire your imagination to view the world with fresh eyes.

1. Family values -- 2. Eternity in an hour -- 3. Counting to four in Icelandic -- 4. Proverbs and times tables -- 5. Classroom intuitions -- 6. [William] Shakespeare's zero -- 7. Shapes of speech -- 8. On big numbers -- 9. Snowman -- 10. Invisible cities -- 11. Are we alone? -- 12. Calendar of Omar Khayyam -- 13. Counting by elevens -- 14. Admirable number of pi -- 15. [Albert] Einstein's equations -- 16. Novelist's [Leo / Lev Tolstoy] calculus -- 17. Book of books -- 18. Poetry of the primes -- 19. All things are created unequal -- 20. A model mother -- 21. Talking chess -- 22. Selves and statistics -- 23. Cataract of time -- 24. Higher than Heaven -- 25. Art of maths.