| Description |
4 videodiscs (720 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 course guidebook (iv, 183 pages ; 19 cm.). |
| Series |
Great courses, Science & mathematics |
|
Great courses (DVD)
|
| System Details |
DVD. |
| Performer |
Twenty-four lectures of thirty minutes each by Edward B. Burger, Professor of Mathematics in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Williams College. |
| Credits |
Director, Tom Dooley ; camera operators, Alexis Doty, Lonnie Anderson ; academic content supervisors, Marcy McDonald, Nancy Eskridge. |
| Note |
Course guidebook includes professor biography, statement of course scope, lecture outlines and notes, timeline, glossary, biographical notes, and bibliography. |
| Summary |
What is your definition of number? Defining the abstract idea of number is extremely difficult and today, we still struggle with the notion of what numbers mean. Numbers neither came to us fully formed in nature nor did they spring fully formed from the human mind. Like other ideas, they have evolved slowly throughout human history. Both practical and abstract, they are important in our everyday world but remain mysterious in our imaginations. If numbers are precision personified, why does a precise, accurate, and satisfying definition of number still elude us? |
| Contents |
Part 1. Disc 1. Lecture 1. Ever-evolving notion of number ; Lecture 2. The dawn of numbers ; Lecture 3. Speaking the language of numbers ; Lecture 4. Dramatic digits: The power of zero ; Lecture 5. The magical and spiritual allure of numbers Lecture 6. Nature's numbers: Patterns without people -- Disc 2. Lecture 7. Numbers of prime importance ; Lecture 8. Challenging the rationality of numbers ; Lecture 9. Walk the (number) line ; Lecture 10. The commonplace chaos among real numbers ; Lecture 11. A beautiful dusting of zeroes and twos ; Lecture 12. An intuitive sojourn into arithmetic. |
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Part 2. Disc 3. Lecture 13. The story of [pi] ; Lecture 14. The story of Euler's 'e' ; Lecture 15. Transcendental numbers ; Lecture 16. An algebraic approach to numbers ; Lecture 17. The five most important numbers ; Lecture 18. An analytic approach to numbers -- Disc 4. Lecture 19. A new breed of numbers ; Lecture 20. The notion of transfinite numbers ; Lecture 21. Collections too infinite to count ; Lecture 22. In and out: The road to a third infinity ; Lecture 23. Infinity: What we know and what we don't ; Lecture 24. The endless frontier of number. |
| Note |
GMD: videorecording. |
| Subject |
Numerals -- History.
|
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Numeration -- History.
|
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Numbers, Real.
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Numbers, Complex.
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Numbers, Natural.
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Numbers, Prime.
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Numbers, Rational.
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Irrational numbers.
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Transcendental numbers.
|
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Euler's numbers.
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| Genre/Form |
Educational films.
|
| Added Author |
Burger, Edward B., 1963-
|
|
Dooley, Tom.
|
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Teaching Company.
|
| Added Title |
History of numbers |
| ISBN |
159803376X: $254.95 |
|
9781598033762: $254.95 |
| Music No. |
PD1499-01 Teaching Company |
|
PD1499-02 Teaching Company |
|
1499 Teaching Company |
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