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"The author is at pains to make his exposition readily accessible to any intelligent reader...This is an unusual and fascinating book, which even experts on prime number theory are likely to find of interest." Times Higher Education, 9th June 2011 "Many thanks for sending me a copy of your fascinating-looking book... Although I have not had the opportunity to go through it yet in any detail, I should say that it is exactly the kind of thing that I would have enjoyed tremendously and found extremely illuminating in my younger days—in fact, I think this is still the case and I look forward enormously to looking at it in more detail when I get the time. I showed it to my wife, Vanessa, who is the head of the mathematics department at Abingdon School, and she was equally thrilled by the presentation. I hope that she may get in touch with you directly at some stage, since she is always on the look-out for innovative ways of getting her pupils to increase their interest in mathematics. I very much wish you success in continuing this endeavour, as I notice that this is described as merely volume 1 in a series of 3." Sir Roger Penrose (Oxford University) "Very kind of you to send your new book. It's very well produced and attractive. I think you've made it really interesting, with well-chosen contents. The illustrations are excellent as well. It deserves to sell a lot of copies." Ian Stewart (Warwick University) "The pictures alone will attract readers on this stimulating odyssey into the magic and mystery of numbers." "This is a fantastic book. A fabulous book. A splendiferous book! It's easy enough to say what the book is about: it explains some extremely fascinating properties of the distribution of prime numbers. But that doesn't tell you why it's so great; books about prime numbers are a dime a dozen. First of all, Watkins (with the help of the illustrations, which I'll get to shortly) manages to explain everything extremely clearly, beginning from first principles—and I really mean first principles; he begins with the definition of the natural numbers and goes from there. The only thing that could possibly stand between elementary school students and an appreciation of this book is their reading ability and attention span, NOT their mathematical abilities. But—and here is the truly astounding thing—I, a PhD student who has studied math my whole life, could not put this book down. Not only was I not bored, I learned new things! How is this possible? Partly, it was due to the fresh, creative, insightful way everything is explained, coupled with excellent writing; partly, it was due to the subject, which starts conventionally enough but soon wanders into fascinating territory unfamiliar to many mathematicians (including this one). A book like this, accessible to young children and engaging to adults, is a rare and wonderful accomplishment indeed! Oh yes, and the illustrations. The illustrations! I eagerly await Volume II (to be published next year)!" Brent Yorgey (The Math Less Traveled blog) "There are no equations to scare readers off. There are fun illustrations, by Matt Tweed. The concepts are deep. Matthew dives into the Prime Number Theorem, harmonic decomposition, spiral waves, and much more. The book reads like a fairy tale – a journey for children of all ages into the depths of truly simple mathematics. The book, in my judgment, lives up to its promise of being accessible. It is very entertaining yet remarkably rigorous. It renews my pleasure of finding joy in deep and simple things. I'm absolutely thrilled to see a book that doesn't dumb down serious Math but simplifies it and communicates it so clearly. I remember having loved Math so much in junior high school and in high school where so much of what I did was to dive into interesting explorations. Then, when I got to college, Math became so dry and lifeless. I can only imagine what college Math would have been like with this book as a text. I sincerely believe that "The Mystery" is a real paradigm changer..." Sol Lederman (Wild About Math! blog)
"Matthew Watkins' The Mystery of the Prime Numbers is an interesting read. It’s all you ever wanted to know about prime numbers – and then some... During the discussions on number lines, counting numbers, division, Peano's Axioms and spirals, there are excursions along the way about religion, economics, philosophy and neuropsychology. The strength of this volume is in the simplicity of the explanations. There are just a few formulas throughout the book (sadly, each equation in a book reduces its sales appeal) and most of the heavy lifting when it comes to explanation is in the illustrations. For math teachers, the book could give you some ideas for activities for your students to better understand the nature of the number line, the distribution of primes or the nature of infinity." Murray Bourne (squareCircleZ blog)
"[a] wonderful book" "...a very nice book. I can't wait to see parts II and III...I had not come across the harmonic decomposition before, incidentally. Re publicity, why not send a review copies to Nature, Physics World, etc.?" Prof. Brian Josephson (Nobel laureate, Cambridge University) "I applaud your achievement: it's impressively done – well written, thought provoking, original and nicely produced." Peter Tallack The Science Factory "Matthew – I've just finished The Mystery of the Prime Numbers. My background is in physics: developed this course at Columbia in the sixties: [link]. Your book leaves me hungering for the two volumes to come. Please let me know when they are available. I've read three other books on the Riemann Hypothesis (including du Sautoy's), and find yours clearer and more complete. A pedagogical tour de force. Thanks for putting your vision out there and for taking such care to communicate it." "I have been reading Matthew Watkins' book The Mystery of the Primes (the first volume of a proposed trilogy) recently with much interest. Though Matthew is clearly a qualified mathematician and therefore well able to deal with issues relating to the primes in the accepted specialised language that fellow practitioners employ, he opts here for a user friendly approach that would be accessible to most lay people (with little or no grounding in mathematics). What I like about this approach is that he clearly appreciates how apparently simple mathematical concepts lead to profound problems of a philosophical nature. So philosophical, psychological, religious and even economic observations are introduced early on in a much more wide ranging approach than is conventional, to unveiling the mystery of the primes. I look forward to following Matthew's trail to see where it will lead in the further two volumes... I am sure that it will be interesting!" "A truly great book. And not just because of the exposition of the beauty of the harmonic decomposition, which is startling when you really stop to think about it. But also because Matthew gets us to stop and think far earlier in the road. Mulltiplication and addition are very different beasts, yet somewhere very early on in our learning we lose this deep subtlety, and never really recover it. Can't wait for Volume 2." Mick Smith "I have had a chance to go through your book, which I must say is excellent. Your presentation along with the illustrative examples (both your text and Matt Tweed's drawings) are most enjoyable and instructive." "I must admit that I rather enjoyed maths at school but I clearly remember the horror of learning calculus. Our teacher began the lesson with a stern warning: what was to follow would form the foundation of the entire year so we'd better all concentrate and pay careful attention. Ah, I tried, but my daydreaming kite of a mind spiralled out into the sky, and when eventually I reeled it back the board was covered in arcane symbols and we were being given impossible exercises to do. Nightmare! If only I'd had Matthew Watkins to guide me. ...he has produced a gem of a book – part textbook, part graphic novel, part philosophical tract, part detective story – that explains some pretty high level maths in terms that anyone (and I mean anyone) can understand. By the end of the book I was impatient for more and happily there are a further two volumes to come. The Mystery of the Prime Numbers is destined to become a cult-classic but it deserves a much broader readership than that. If someone had shown me that the mathematical universe is as profoundly odd as it is strangely beautiful, or even that excursions into its nether regions can be thrilling, then Calculus would have been a doddle and my imagination would never have had cause to flee the confines of the classroom." "THIS is the book you give non-mathematicians who don't think math has any "soul". I really believe that this book would be a wonderful gift for a clever 12 year old, and I may be shortchanging clever 10 year olds in that statement (Think Christmas). This is a book about mathematical ideas that seriously tries to avoid the barrier of mathematical symbols, and that is where Matt Tweed's creative illustrations come in...but don't be confused, this is not "baby math" or watered down math, this is Primes straight on without barriers...or at least with some of the confusing barriers removed. Ok, let me be blunt..this is the book I give my granddaughter, and the book I give my math colleges." "I teach maths, so the process of explaining prime numbers and why we 'have to learn about them' is something I face several times a year. With the understanding within this book and the brilliance of the wit of the illustrations I have found it easy to make teaching this topic one of the most exciting on the curriculum. The book takes you gently, yet quickly, through a well constructed ladder of mathematical concepts regarding primes. You could start with a pre-GCSE level of maths (as my students do). Due to the collaboration between the artist and the mathematician, the illustrations really do explain the ideas as they develop. In no time you can understand some of the biggest questions in mathematics and understand the delight to be found in them. It's really good!" Suzi (amazon.co.uk review) "It is very well written and beautifully illustrated by Matt Tweed! I am looking forward to volumes 2 and 3." Jan van de Craats (University of Amsterdam)
"I think your book is really terrific. I especially like the "voice" of the writer which is very consistent, encouraging, kind... Look forward to v.2" |