4th Estate
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First published in Great Britain by 4th Estate in 2019
Copyright © Marcus du Sautoy 2019
Marcus du Sautoy asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
All reasonable efforts have been made by the author and the publisher to trace the copyright holders of the images and material quoted in this book. In the event that the author or publisher are contacted by any of the untraceable copyright holders after the publication of this book, the author and the publisher will endeavour to rectify the position accordingly.
Diagrams redrawn by Martin Brown
Cover image © Hands of God and Adam, detail from The Creation of Adam, from the Sistine Ceiling, 1511 (fresco) (pre restoration), Buonarroti, Michelangelo (1475-1564) / Vatican Museums and Galleries, Vatican City / Bridgeman Images
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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Source ISBN: 9780008288198
Ebook Edition © March 2019 ISBN: 9780008288167
Version: 2020-01-30
To Shani, for all her love and support, creativity and intelligence
CONTENTS
Copyright
Dedication
4 Algorithms, the Secret to Modern Life
10 The Mathematician’s Telescope
11 Music: The Process of Sounding Mathematics
16 Why We Create: A Meeting of Minds
Works of art make rules; rules do not make works of art.
Claude Debussy
The machine was a thing of beauty. Towers of gears with numbers on their teeth pinned
