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An imaginary tale
the story of [the square root of minus one]
First published 1998 · 296 pages
An entertaining and intellectually stimulating journey through the history of one of mathematics' most elusive concepts.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like sitting in on a fascinating lecture by a passionate historian of mathematics. The narrative moves at a steady, engaging pace, weaving together the baffling problems of the past with the colorful characters who dared to solve them. The mood is deeply curious and intellectually stimulating, balancing scholarly rigor with an entertaining, accessible tone. The prose seamlessly blends historical anecdotes with actual mathematical discussions, guiding the reader from ancient confusion to modern application. It is an illuminating experience designed for anyone—whether a general enthusiast or a serious scholar—who delights in the evolution of complex ideas and the thrill of intellectual discovery.
- Mood
- intellectually stimulating
- curious
- illuminating
- Tone
- informative
- entertaining
- scholarly
- engaging
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- the history of mathematics · intellectual discovery · problem-solving · the evolution of ideas
- The writing
- Accessible yet rigorous, weaving historical narrative with concrete mathematical discussions.
- The arc
- Moves from baffling historical confusion to illuminating mathematical clarity.
- Who it's for
- Readers with a general or scholarly interest in mathematics who enjoy historical deep dives into complex concepts.
About the book
In An Imaginary Tale, Paul Nahin tells the 2000-year-old history of one of mathematics' most elusive numbers, the square root of minus one, also known as i, re-creating the baffling mathematical problems that conjured it up and the colorful characters who tried to solve them.
Addressing readers with both a general and scholarly interest in mathematics, Nahin weaves into this narrative entertaining historical facts, mathematical discussions, and the application of complex numbers and functions to important problems.
Description from Open Library.
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