List of Illustrations Ch. 1The Puzzles of Imaginary Numbers Ch. 2A First Try at Understanding the Geometry of [the square root of] -1 Ch. 3The Puzzles Start to Clear Ch. 4Using Complex Numbers Ch. 5More Uses of Complex Numbers Ch. 6Wizard Mathematics Ch. 7The Nineteenth Century, Cauchy, and the Beginning of Complex Function Theory App. AThe Fundamental Theorem of Algebra App. BThe Complex Roots of a Transcendental Equation App. C([the square root of] -1)[superscript [square root of] -1] to 135 Decimal Places, and How It Was Computed Notes Name Index Subject Index Acknowledgments
Dispelling many common myths about the origin of the mystic 'imaginary' unit, Nahin tells the story of i from a historic as well as human perspective. His enthusiasm and informal style easily catch on to the reader. An Imaginary Tale is a must for anyone curious about the evolution of our number concept. -- Eli Maor, author of "Trigonometric Delights", "e: The Story of a Number", and "To Infinity and Beyond"
Paul J. Nahin is the author of many best-selling popular math books, including Digital Dice, Chases and Escapes, Dr. Euler's Fabulous Formula, When Least Is Best, Duelling Idiots and Other Probability Puzzlers, and Mrs. Perkins's Electric Quilt (all Princeton). He is professor emeritus of electrical engineering at the University of New Hampshire.
A book-length hymn of praise to the square root of minus one. -- Brian Rotman, Times Literary Supplement An Imaginary Tale is marvelous reading and hard to put down. Readers will find that Nahin has cleared up many of the mysteries surrounding the use of complex numbers. -- Victor J. Katz, Science [An Imaginary Tale] can be read for fun and profit by anyone who has taken courses in introductory calculus, plane geometry and trigonometry. -- William Thompson, American Scientist Someone has finally delivered a definitive history of this 'imaginary' number... A must read for anyone interested in mathematics and its history. -- D. S. Larson, Choice Attempting to explain imaginary numbers to a non-mathematician can be a frustrating experience... On such occasions, it would be most useful to have a copy of Paul Nahin's excellent book at hand. -- A. Rice, Mathematical Gazette Imaginary numbers! Threeve! Ninety-fifteen! No, not those kind of imaginary numbers. If you have any interest in where the concept of imaginary numbers comes from, you will be drawn into the wonderful stories of how i was discovered. -- Rebecca Russ, Math Horizons There will be something of reward in this book for everyone. -- R.G. Keesing, Contemporary Physics Nahin has given us a fine addition to the family of books about particular numbers. It is interesting to speculate what the next member of the family will be about. Zero? The Euler constant? The square root of two? While we are waiting, we can enjoy An Imaginary Tale. -- Ed Sandifer, MAA Online Paul Nahin's book is a delightful romp through the development of imaginary numbers. -- Robin J. Wilson, London Mathematical Society Newsletter
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