Euclid's Window

The Story of Geometry from Parallel Lines to Hyperspace

De: Leonard Mlodinow

Narrado por: Robert Blumenfeld

Through Euclid's Window Leonard Mlodinow brilliantly and delightfully leads us on a journey through five revolutions in geometry, from the Greek concept of parallel lines to the latest notions of hyperspace. Here is an altogether new, refreshing, alternative history of math revealing how simple questions anyone might ask about space -- in the living room or in some other galaxy -- have been the hidden engine of the highest achievements in science and technology.

Based on Mlodinow's extensive historical research; his studies alongside colleagues such as Richard Feynman and Kip Thorne; and interviews with leading physicists and mathematicians such as Murray Gell-Mann, Edward Witten, and Brian Greene, Euclid's Window is an extraordinary blend of rigorous, authoritative investigation and accessible, good-humored storytelling that makes a stunningly original argument asserting the primacy of geometry. For those who have looked through Euclid's Window, no space, no thing, and no time will ever be quite the same.

©2009 Leonard Mlodinow (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

History, dash of equations

Enjoyed this as a history book, but the mathmatical concepts are kept more in the background. The book starts mostly with the Greeks: Pythagorus, Euclid, and Archimedes, and their contributions to geometry and trigonometry; then onto Hypatia, the Romans and dark/middle ages where war and The Church rule and little is learned (but arithmetic is derived in the Middle East). Onto Erasmus, Galileo, Decartes, Gauss and non-Euclidian (hyperspace) geometry where a triangle is greater/less than 180 degrees. From there to Einstein, relativity, and spacetime. Then a bit on s-theory to string theory.

LOVED This

What did you love best about Euclid's Window?

The history of math. People figured out things I still don't understand, and they figured them out by drawing in sand without calculators or computers. Fascinating.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I liked it so much I'll probably listen to it again.

Any additional comments?

If you're interested in the evolution of mathematics, this is the book for you.

Really Loved it!!

What did you love best about Euclid's Window?

I really love both history and mathematics, so this was the perfect read for me.

In college, I was so focused on problem solving, I wasn't able to step away from the text to really delve into the story behind the Geometry. This read affords me that chance and has me going back to some of my old text and rediscovering what I really love about mathematics.

Very much recommended for anyone who loves history and is fascinated by mathematics ;-)!

A Great Read

If you are not a person who succeeded in highschool science classes but want to have an understanding of complicated science ideas then this is the book to read. The complex is made understandable. I will never be able to succeed in a physics class but the history presented was clear, concise, and entertaining.

Excellent - Intellectually fulfilling

The book is a journey into the past while bringing us to our current moment in time. Euclid set us upon this journey - with Geometry becoming the basis for for our understanding of modern physics and thus allowing us to glimpse like the ancients into cosmology. The performance is professional and excellent. In conclusion it is as though we participate in a forum in a modern school of school of Athens - where through its essence we grow with an understanding of geometry into deeper philosophical and esoteric possibilities and constructs. Personally I can listen to it over and over ! It builds a deeper sense of knowledge of our universe and of ourselves !

Geometry Made Entertaining

I love Euclid's Window and it is one of the few audiobooks that I've repeatedly gone back and listened to again. Euclid's Window is extraordinarily well narrated by Robert Blumenfeld, who provides a level of narration that I have rarely seen in other audio books. Blumenfeld gives life to Mlodinow's writing by providing a deep level of feeling and personality to the narration. The content itself is crafted to be humorous and sufficiently detailed to provide listeners with a clear idea of the history of geometry without getting bogged down on a specific subjects. Despite being an audiobook on geometry, Euclid's Window does not suffer from the lack of figures or drawings- a testament to Mlodinow's writing prowess and his ability to explain concepts clearly, One needs to keep in mind that the author is attempting to fit the entire history of geometry into a 8hour+ audiobook. Not an easy feat. Mlodinow is clearly trying to present a continuous and well connected history of geometry with an emphasis on being engaging and entertaining, not necessarily explaining subjects in fine detail.

Pointless Examples

While this book is full of interesting information the authors examples make the point he is trying to make overly complicated because he insists on injecting his version of humor into almost every one leaving the example hard and at times almost impossible to understand.

The book would have been much better if the author could have used some restraint in trying to prove his whit every 30 seconds.

World history and math together.

Don't try to follow the equations, follow the story. A second listen is worth your time.

Good mathematics, questionable history

I liked hearing about the more modern concepts toward the end of the book, and it's clear that the author is an expert in these areas, but I found that the history presented early-on was colored by the author's (rather obvious) anti-religious biases. For example, he repeats myths about Hypatia and the Library of Alexandria's destruction that show a lack of careful research about current scholarship regarding that time period. Instances like this make me question the historicity of other aspects of the book. If you are interested in the *history* of science, take this book with a grain of salt. If you are interested in hearing explanations of how some modern physics concepts (e.g. relativity, string theory) came about and how they're related, this is a good introductory resource. Basically, this is a book written by a physicist and clearly not a historian.

Keeping it real

What did you love best about Euclid's Window?

I liked the way the author covers the history of discoveries in physics and mathematics from Pythagoras and Euclid to Einstein and beyond. I'm just a layman and I actually got the gist of most of the math and physics. I now understand how the leap to hyperbolic geometry helped Einstein and others to describe relativity and how the universe works. The author explains how math and physics evolved through the efforts of many great thinkers leading up to Einstein. And he finishes with the current state of string theory.

What other book might you compare Euclid's Window to and why?

I also liked About Time and The Clockwork Universe because they give you a historical perspective of our understanding of the universe and our place in it.

What about Robert Blumenfeld’s performance did you like?

He read very well.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.