Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Absolutely Everything

by Jordan Ellenberg

Jordan Ellenberg (Narrator)

Brought to you by Penguin.

How should a democracy choose its representatives? How does disease spread? How do computers teach themselves chess, and why is chess easier for them than analyzing a sentence? What should your kids study in school if they really want to learn to think? All of these are questions about geometry.

Jordan Ellenberg reveals the mathematics behind some of the most important scientific, political and philosophical conundrums we face. The word 'geometry', from the Greek, means 'measuring the world'. If anything, geometry doesn't just measure the world - it explains it. Shape shows us how.

(c) Jordan Ellenberg 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

• ISBN10: 0241524768
• ISBN13: 9780241524763
• Publish Date: 25 May 2021
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
• Imprint: Allen Lane
• Edition: Unabridged edition
• Format: Audiobook (WAV)
• Duration: 14 hours and 24 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[Jeff Sexton]

Love Song To Geometry - And A Look At How It Is Truly Everywhere. This is a mathematician showing just how prevalent geometry is in our every day lives - and why modern math classes tend to ruin it for most people. As a mathematics oriented person myself (got one math-derived degree, very nearly got two others almost at the same time, former math teacher, current active software developer), this was fairly easy to follow - Ellenberg mentions some advanced concepts without actually *showing* many of them, though there *is* more actual equations in here than some might like in a "popsci" level book. Thanks to Ellenberg's explanations of said equations and concepts, this *should* be an easy enough follow for most anyone. And he really does do a great job of showing how even advanced ideas really do come down to the most basic principles - just applied in particularly interesting ways. Indeed, the only real critique I have here is that when Ellenberg gets off the math specifically and into more political and social commentary - even when ostensbily using the math as a shield - it gets much closer to "Your Mileage May Vary" level. Overall, those moments weren't quite pervasive enough nor did they stray far enough from the central premise to warrant dropping a star, and thus the book maintains the full five stars that all books start with for me. Very much recommended.