An Imaginary Tale: The Story of √-1

An Imaginary Tale: The Story of √-1

BookAn Imaginary Tale: The Story of √-1
PublisherPrinceton University Press
Copyright HolderPrinceton University Press
IllustratorRemedios Varo
Cover/Jacket Design byDavid J, Fiore, Wendi Traub-Cohen
FormatHardback
LanguageEnglish
LocationUnited States
Copyright1998
Pages / Font257 pages / Times Roman
UPC9 780691 027951
UPC 590000
ISBN0-691-02795-1
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number97-52082
Library of Congress Classification NumberQA255.N34 1998
Dewey Decimal Classification Number515'.9-dc21
Printer's Key6 7 8 9 10
ChaptersList of Illustrations . . . xi Preface . . . xiii Introduction . . . 3 Chapter One: The Puzzles Of Imaginary Numbers . . . 8 Chapter Two: A First Try At Understanding The Geometry Of √-1 . . . 31 Chapter Three: The Puzzles Start To Clear . . . 48 Chapter Four: Using Complex Numbers . . . 84 Chapter Five: More Uses Of Complex Numbers . . . 105 Chapter Six: Wizard Mathematics . . . 142 Chapter Seven: The Nineteenth Century, Cauchy, And The Beginning Of Complex Function Theory . . . 187 Appendixes . . . 227 A. The Fundamental Theorem Of Algebra . . . 227 B. The Complex Roots Of A Transcendental Equation . . . 230 C. [( √-1) to the √-1 power] To 135 Decimal Places, And How It Was Computed . . . 235 Notes . . . 239 Name Index . . . 251 Subject Index . . . 255 Acknowledgments . . . 259
NotesLibrary of Congress Cataloging In Publication Data Nahin, Paul J. An imaginary tale: the story of [the square root of minus one] / Paul J. Nahin p. cm. On t.p. "[the square root of minus one]" appears as a radical over "-1". Includes bibliographical references and indexes. 1. Numbers, Complex. I. Title QA255.N34 1998 ISBN 0-691-02795-1 (cloth : all. Paper) 515'.9---dc21 97-52082
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