Are Numbers Real?

 

Are Numbers Real? by Brian Clegg (2016 St Martin’s Press hardcover 288pp)

 

With the title and in the opening chapter prolific science writer Brian Clegg asks an intriguing philosophical and existential question – do the numbers and the mathematical systems invented by mankind actually represent something that really exists out there in the universe independent of our minds?

Then he spends the next 260 pages ignoring the question and ends the book with a weak statement that basically says ‘’Mathematics is a sometimes-imprecise model of reality and perhaps we shouldn’t think otherwise”

The bulk of this book is actually a history of mathematics, mathematical concepts and potted histories of the major players in the field throughout history.

Clegg is an engaging writer with a chatty, frequently humorous style and does his best to bring the ideas and personalities alive but I felt something was lacking and half-hearted. Its interesting in parts but not very compelling overall.

I think never really got over the author ignoring the question and very title of the book that motivated me to pick it up in the first place. 

A bit of a missed opportunity.