God Created the Integers - The Mathematical Breakthroughs that Changed History

From using the internet to flying in a plane, playing the lottery to space travel, mathematics is at the heart of almost every aspect of the modern world. But what exactly are the discoveries that made these achievements possible? In God Created the Integers Stephen Hawking brings together his personal choice of the greatest mathematical works in history, spanning 2,500 years of pioneering achievement. From the geometry of Euclid through the calculus of Newton, from the probabilities of Laplace to the thought of Boole, here are the landmark mathematical masterpieces that overturned our view of the world. With commentary from Hawking throughout, and including the original mathematical proofs and results - many in new translations - this book allows us to peer into the mind of genius. It also helps us to understand the progression of mathematical thought, showing how each of these figures built on the work of their predecessors as far back as the Babylonians and Greeks, and how they are at the very foundations of our present-day technologies, constantly informing current research. Filled with details of the lives and times of each mathematician, this is an extraordinary insight into some of humanity's greatest achievements.