Pluses and Minuses: How Math Solves Our Problems

Buijsman, a philosophy of mathematics wunderkind who earned his doctorate at age 20, delivers an illuminating history of mathematics that also touches on fascinating philosophical questions surrounding math. One of the central debates, he explains, is between those who contend numbers are a preexisting natural phenomenon waiting to be discovered and those who view them as a human-made set of principles with no intrinsic basis in reality. Buijusman doesn’t subscribe to either position, holding that the question of why math works is still unresolved. He does have a major thesis about math, which is that its primary value lies in its ability to simplify reality, as he demonstrates with lucid and accessible descriptions of mathematical breakthroughs and their applications throughout history. These include the simultaneous invention of calculus by rival 17th-century mathematicians Newton and Leibniz; graph theory, which provides a fascinating look at the driving force behind web searches; and probability and statistics, which enable the art of polling. Buijsman’s enjoyable survey makes a convincing argument that understanding these basics will provide the tools necessary to better evaluate the modern world’s information onslaught. Agent: Michael Carlisle, InkWell Management. (August)