e: The Story of a Number

[Dave Monroe]

e: The Story of a Number
Eli Maor
Honorable Mention, 1994 Association of American Publishers Award for
Best Professional/Scholarly Book in Mathematics

Paper | 2009 | $15.95 / £9.50
248 pp. | 6 x 9 | 6 halftones. 74 line illus.


The interest earned on a bank account, the arrangement of seeds in a
sunflower, and the shape of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis are all
intimately connected with the mysterious number e. In this informal
and engaging history, Eli Maor portrays the curious characters and the
elegant mathematics that lie behind the number. Designed for a reader
with only a modest background in mathematics, this biography of e
brings out that number's central importance in mathematics and
illuminates a golden era in the age of science.

http://press.princeton.edu/titles/5342.html

Chapter 1. John Napier, 1614

http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s5342.html