This book got me past my fear of math so well that I decided to go back to college & finish a long-delayed bachelor's degree. Designed for adults, the book gradually takes the reader from phobia to ability. Many examples and lots of interesting explanations, plus end-of-chapter exercises with answers. My only complaint: more illustrations would be nice.

I bougth the spanish version of this book, And now I can say that this is one on the greatest bokks I ever read. The author explains the origins of Mathematics and some of the great matehmatical thems such Series, Calculus, Fibonacci Numbers, Cryptography and so on... If you want to know new mathematical terms and you enjoy this science, this is your best chance.

Clawson does an excellent job of introducing the reader to a variety of number theory topics. With each topic, he provides enough information to understand the idea and appreciate its implications without being overly technical or tedious. Suprisingly, an advanced understanding of math is not required to enjoy this book. If you have an interst in number theory and need a starting point, this is the book.

Clawson writes with refreshing enthusiasm and really conveys how much fun it can be to explore the nature of mathematics. Although there are many equations in the book, Clawson uses them not only to help the readers understand the mathematical ideas, but also to show how truly great mathematicians can come up with extremely elegant expressions to describe what at first would seem to be completely unmanageable concepts.

You refer to the number 7 as having a special significance. I believe that in the ancient times referred to, the nunber 7 was used to signify a very large number. It is referred to in both the old and new testaments. i think Jesus refers to 7 and 7 times 70 when referring to how often we must forgive someone - meaning we must forgive a lot