The thematic dissonance Dr. Beckmann serves up in this ostensible history of science treatise starts off very amusing, grows annoying towards the middle and ends up with you shopping for some other book on pi. As I finished the first chapter, I began to wonder whether other readers had noticed the bait-and-switch: a manuscript with seemingly scholarly intentions had been shanghaied by a cranky technocrat into service for a diatribe against everything from Aristotle to fascism. The real let-down came several chapters further on. I largely agree with the political and historiographical assessments Dr. Beckmann preaches in his book: yes, Aristotle was a scientific dullard now lauded by posterity; yes, the Romans were mathematical morons who didnt even understand the hydrodynamics of their own aqueducts; yes, National Socialism was bad. Ill even concede that Dr. Beckmanns sardonic prose sometimes made the ubiquitous tangents an entertaining diversion. Still and all, what about pi? This is by far the tersest mathematical presentation of difficult ideas I have ever seen in a popular science text. Some of the explanations about mathematical reasoning are positively opaque --- but by the end youre grateful when theres any explanation at all. I have to entertain the uncomfortable possibility that Dr. Beckmann omitted a thorough discussion of the technical points so that he could cram the proofs as well as his ideological agenda into a fixed number of words. "A History of Pi", to give due credit, does touch on the major historical events in the study of this beautiful number (as long as youre prepared to forgive the limited coverage of computational developments, given the books age). If an ad hoc mixture of political commentary, historical revisionism and dense geometric reasoning is what youre in the mood for, youve picked a winner. Otherwise you ought to look elsewhere. I learned much more about the history and role of pi from "E: The Story of a Number", by Eli Maor, than I did from "A History of Pi".
My kind of book: A seemingly mundane subject that packs a punch. Those expecting an exhaustive mathematical treatise should remember that this is a HISTORY of pi, including the events and people that colored it. Beckmann is opinionated, and thankfully so! History is a story composed of characters that either advance or impede human progress, and Beckmann shines the spotlight on both, heaping scorn and reverence without regard to whos ox is being gored. In the process, he manages to annoy all the right groups (organized religion, fascists, communists) making him unpopular with some, but rare is the factual rebuttal to any of his charges. Indeed, the primary complaint seems not to be that hes wrong but that hes particularly unforgiving of historys morons. Theres enough conceptual math and intriguing history to please both mathematicians and historians, particularly those tired of the politically correct drivel that so permeates popular science today. A truly great read.
Buy this book if you are a math lover and are also interested in its history. Although Its not an serious math book than you can learn whole lot of math from, it does contain some mathematical derivations, formulas, proofs which can be skipped without destroying the coherency of the authors presentation.
