Here is the essential guide to mathematics, an authoritative reference book and timeline that explores the work of history s greatest mathematicians. These include the teasing genius of Pierre de Fermat, who said he knew the answers but rarely gave them up, the helpful guidance of Fibonacci, whose 13th-century compendium for bookkeepers proved to be a valuable tool for the most high-minded mathematicians, and the fractal pattern discovered by Wac aw Sierpinski now used to plan the route a mailman takes. With a glimpse of the abstract landscapes of infinite numbers and multi-dimensional shapes that these incredible minds explore, we can begin to get beyond school-day sums and understand the true power of mathematics.
