Infinite Powers

How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe

by Steven H. Strogatz

Hardcover, 384 pages

Published Sept. 5, 2019 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

ISBN:: 978-1-328-87998-1

(14 reviews)

From preeminent math personality and author of The Joy of x, a brilliant and endlessly appealing explanation of calculus—how it works and why it makes our lives immeasurably better.

Without calculus, we wouldn’t have cell phones, TV, GPS, or ultrasound. We wouldn’t have unraveled DNA or discovered Neptune or figured out how to put 5,000 songs in your pocket.

Though many of us were scared away from this essential, engrossing subject in high school and college, Steven Strogatz’s brilliantly creative, down-to-earth history shows that calculus is not about complexity; it’s about simplicity. It harnesses an unreal number—infinity—to tackle real-world problems, breaking them down into easier ones and then reassembling the answers into solutions that feel miraculous.

From preeminent math personality and author of The Joy of x, a brilliant and endlessly appealing explanation of calculus—how it works and why it makes our lives immeasurably better.

Without calculus, we wouldn’t have cell phones, TV, GPS, or ultrasound. We wouldn’t have unraveled DNA or discovered Neptune or figured out how to put 5,000 songs in your pocket.

Infinite Powers recounts how calculus tantalized and thrilled its inventors, starting with its first glimmers in ancient Greece and bringing us right up to the discovery of gravitational waves (a phenomenon predicted by calculus). Strogatz reveals how this form of math rose to the challenges of each age: how to determine the area of a circle with only sand and a stick; how to explain why Mars goes “backwards” sometimes; how to make electricity with magnets; how to ensure your rocket doesn’t miss the moon; how to turn the tide in the fight against AIDS.

As Strogatz proves, calculus is truly the language of the universe. By unveiling the principles of that language, Infinite Powers makes us marvel at the world anew.

5 editions

xylogx@bookwyrm.world reviewed Infinite Powers by Steven H. Strogatz

Loved this book

5 stars

I love calculus and I loved this book. If you do not love calculus you might not, but I feel like he does a good job of trying tell a story that is accessible even if you do not have a mathematical background. It is impossible for me to separate myself from my own mathematical background which is so intertwined in my personality, so this judgement on accessibility may need to be taken with a grain of salt. I do feel like the book is well organized and the chapters have good narrative structure. Objectively good on these matters of structure and story telling, I would be interested in how others who do not have maths backgrounds found this argument that he makes that “calculus is important and foundational to everything we do in the modern technological world.” and that “Calculus is truly the language of the universe”

FWT reviewed Infinite Powers by Steven H. Strogatz

Nice overview of calculus

4 stars

Nice overview of how calculus came to be. I found the history pieces in the book the best sections.

hsubu reviewed Infinite Powers by Steven H. Strogatz

Review of 'Infinite Powers' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

A truly wonderful book. The author takes great care in taking the reader through the story and foundations of calculus gently without overwhelming the reader with jargon and unnecessary details. The examples from daily life he chooses to explain various concepts are very relatable and help us to get an intuitive feel for calculus. The stories and personalities behind calculus are fascinating on their own. You can feel the author's love for calculus coming through the pages and it is infectious.

Highly recommended!

Kirk Moodey reviewed Infinite Powers by Steven H. Strogatz

Review of 'Infinite Powers' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I really enjoyed this one, but my teen brother, who is not really a math fan (although I have forced him to read the occasional book), alas did not, leaving it in the living room after I gave it to him.