Number is an eloquent, accessible tour de force that reveals how the concept of number evolved from prehistoric times through the twentieth century. Tobias Dantzig shows that the development of math—from the invention of counting to the discovery of infinity—is a profoundly human story that progressed by “trying and erring, by groping and stumbling.” He shows how commerce, war, and religion led to advances in math, and he recounts the stories of individuals whose breakthroughs expanded the concept of number and created the mathematics that we know today.

Anyone interested in the history of numbers and mathematics should read this book. (Mario Livio, author of The Golden Ratio)

A classic . . . it deserves a place on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the history of thought. (Charles Seife, author of Zero and Decoding the Universe)

Beyond doubt the most interesting book on the evolution of mathematics which has ever fallen into my hands. (Albert Einstein)