Michael Brooks vividly tells the history of civilization and introduces the power of mathematics in a playful way.
Doing just one is worthwhile, but doing both at the same time is amazing.
Tim Harford, author of "Economics in Concert"

How do we understand the world we live in and how do we create civilization?
The reason we were able to create civilization and make the world a much better place is because of 'mathematics'.
Explore the history behind mathematics, which has illuminated the world for hundreds of years!

Close your eyes and count.
1, 2, 3… .
You will be able to count numbers without difficulty.
However, knowing the concept of numbers and being able to count them is not actually an innate human nature.
An untrained brain cannot understand mathematics.
So, for someone who hasn't learned numbers, anything over 3 is just 'more'.
When our distant ancestors began learning, systematizing, and utilizing mathematics, humanity discovered the amazing power of mathematics and harnessed it to create today's dazzling civilization, enriching lives, and prospering.
However, if you don't feel the use of math in your daily life, you may wonder why you bother to learn it.
Perhaps it's because, even though we learned how to memorize mathematical formulas and solve problems during our school days, we never heard the interesting story of how mathematics created the civilized world we live in, or how mathematics played an important role in human history.

Michael Brooks, a science writer known for his ability to explain complex scientific concepts to the general public, takes us on a fascinating journey through the history of civilization, using mathematics to explain why we need it to understand the world.
Ancient tax collectors used basic numbers to fuel the growth of early civilizations, navigators used clever geometric tricks to trade and communicate with people across vast distances, astronomers invented logarithms to unlock the secrets of the heavens, and their descendants landed on the moon.
Calculus not only led the Allies to victory in World War II, it also helped curb the HIV epidemic.
And as it turns out, scarecrows are an essential element in the modern world we live in.
In this way, Michael Brooks proves that mathematics is a vastly underrated driving force for human progress in every respect.

Michael Brooks offers his guidance through the ages, taking us on a fascinating journey through human history.
And he argues that mathematics was one of the fundamental innovations that lifted humanity from nomadism to civilized humanity, and has played a key role in every great leap forward in human history since.
The book features ancient Egyptian priests, Babylonian bureaucrats, medieval architects, dueling Swiss brothers, Renaissance painters, and the eccentric professor who invented the infrastructure of the online world.
Their story clearly demonstrates that the invention of mathematics was as important to humanity as the discovery of fire.
From beginning to end, this book uses mathematics to revisit the essence of how humans created this world and its meaning.
In this book, you'll discover how mathematics shaped the world around us, alongside Michael Brooks and the extraordinary and eccentric figures he introduces.