Ouruniversehasmultipleoriginstories,fromreligiouscreationmythstotheBigBangofscientists.Butifweleavethosebehindandstartfromnothing--nomatter,nocosmos,notevenemptyspace--couldwecreateauniverseusingonlymath?Irreverent,richlyillustrated,andboundlesslycreative,TheBigBangofNumbersinvitesustotry.Inthisnewmathematicaloriginstory,mathematicianandnovelistManilSuricreatesanaturalprogressionofideasneededtodesignourworld,startingwithnumbersandcontinuingthroughgeometry,algebra,andbeyond.Herevealsthesecretlivesofrealandimaginarynumbers,teachesthemtoplayabstractgameswithreal-worldapplications,discoversunexpectedpatternsthatconnecthumblelifeformstoenormousgalaxies,andexploresmathematicalunderpinningsforrandomnessandbeauty.WithevocativeexamplesrangingfrommultidimensionalcrochettotheMonaLisa’sasymmetricalsmile,aswellasingeniousstorytellingthathelpsilluminatecomplexconceptslikeinfinityandrelativity,TheBigBangofNumberschartsaplayful,inventivecoursetoexistence.Mathematics,Surishows,mightbestbeunderstoodnotassomethingweinventtoexplainNature,butasthesourceofallcreation,whosedirectivesNaturetriestoobeyasbestshecan.Offeringbothstrikingnewperspectivesformathaficionadosandanaccessibleintroductionforanyonedauntedbycalculation,TheBigBangofNumbersprovesthatwecanallfallinlovewithmath.
