Numbers

This book is about all kinds of numbers, from rationals to octonians, reals to infinitesimals. It is a story about a major thread of mathematics over thousands of years, and it answers everything from why Hamilton was obsessed with quaternions to what the prospect was for quaternionic analysis in the 19 th century. It glimpses the mystery surrounding imaginary numbers in the 17 th century and views some major developments of the 20 th century.