Euclid's Window

The Story of Geometry from Parallel Lines to Hyperspace

By: Leonard Mlodinow

Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld

Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

I need a pdf to follow the equations!

This is the mathematical Greatest Story Ever Told … So Far. I understood about 1-2% of it, but this was my first read. I look forward to many more. Having a document handy to read along with the narrator would help immensely. Robert Blumenfeld was a good narrator, and I slowed it down to 0.9x to make it easier for me to try to take in while knitting.

Finally, it all came down to an exploration of the infinite and the infinitesimal, of entropy and black holes, of space, time, and space-time, and so much more. It’s very exciting story. Fellow Aspies will understand. I couldn’t have asked for a better addition to my library.

Unexpectedly funny one-liners accompany the facts

Any additional comments?

I love non fiction and learning about something new. I was very surprised at how clever the writing was in this book. Some one-liners downright had me laughing out loud. At one point, my brother (22 years old and a law student without much math or science in his background) sat through an hour long car ride in which I listened to this audio book, and even from a random point in the book, he found himself exclaiming in surprise at some interesting facts he learned, and laughing at the clever jokes and side comments.

I have to say that I learned something, but furthermore enjoyed learning it. It didn't feel tremendously technical or too plodding and long. It also explores the contributing social circumstances and history of the various mathematicians and scientists mentioned within its pages, which helps create a broad knowledge base on the topics at hand and about the people behind the discoveries as well.

Unique in the science books

I do recommend this book to the person who has no idea about math or anything like it. It's not deep but it isn't vague. The book shows you a place in time, when people either knew stuff or didn't same as today. This book is great if you are interested in the timeline of the subject not articulation of the subject except for relation to others. I have listened to it a few times it is worth buying over a novel.

Amazing Book - Poorly Read

I have an old copy of the audio cassettes in mp3 format but the copy was not that good so i found this site, created the account, payed and downloaded. The recording copy is great, however it is a different read. which is very disappointing. A waste of my money, i would rather hear the poor quality read then this persons read.