A Brief History of Infinity: The Quest to Think the Unthinkable

Brief Histories

By: Brian Clegg

Narrated by: Gordon Griffin

Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the street to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space.' Douglas Adams, Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

We human beings have trouble with infinity - yet infinity is a surprisingly human subject. Philosophers and mathematicians have gone mad contemplating its nature and complexity - yet it is a concept routinely used by schoolchildren. Exploring the infinite is a journey into paradox. Here is a quantity that turns arithmetic on its head, making it feasible that 1 = 0. Here is a concept that enables us to cram as many extra guests as we like into an already full hotel. Most bizarrely of all, it is quite easy to show that there must be something bigger than infinity - when it surely should be the biggest thing that could possibly be.

Brian Clegg takes us on a fascinating tour of that borderland between the extremely large and the ultimate that takes us from Archimedes, counting the grains of sand that would fill the universe, to the latest theories on the physical reality of the infinite. Full of unexpected delights, whether St Augustine contemplating the nature of creation, Newton and Leibniz battling over ownership of calculus, or Cantor struggling to publicise his vision of the transfinite, infinity's fascination is in the way it brings together the everyday and the extraordinary, prosaic daily life and the esoteric. Whether your interest in infinity is mathematical, philosophical, spiritual or just plain curious, this accessible title offers a stimulating and entertaining listen.

Brian Clegg is author of the highly acclaimed Light Years and The First Scientist. While working for British Airways he set up the Emerging Technologies Group, responsible for researching cutting-edge technologies. He currently runs his own creative consultancy business.

©2013 Brian Clegg (P)2013 Audible Ltd

Mind bending!! To infinity ♾️ and beyond ✨️ !!!!!

Math, philosophy and history mixed together make for a terrific read! I mean who knew!!
Embark in a journey through the thought processes of the greatest men and polymath and their struggles, and suddenly a lot start to makes sense.

The solutions are a journey and mind bending!!
To infinity ♾️ and beyond ✨️ !!!!!

The remarkable narrator deserves all the praise 👏 in the world!!! Wow! Thank you you have made this book truly enjoyable!

Really not great in Audio, not great otherwise

Although I like mathematics and infinity this book did not work in audio very well. A lot of time is spent going over high-school level set theory, and verbally describing Venn diagrams and the interleaving many digit random numbers is pretty uninteresting. The author does not make the personalities compelling and I did not learn a thing from this book. This book is for real beginners, and audio format is not best for this material. The narration is just OK, a little boring and a few flubs.

A history of thought on infinity, lacking a PDF with equations often next to impossible to grasp in this audible format

The audiobook is well narrated and overall good at outlining the history of thought on infinity since ancient Greeks steadily onward. Unfortunately, many a time the narrator reads long equations which are virtually impossible to reconstruct in the mind’s eye. Surely, some supplementary PDF or accompanying ebook is necessary. In the lack of the former as of this writing, I’d recommend buying the latter, which sets you back ca. 3 dollars in kindle format, it’s worth that. But be aware that there are two entries on Amazon, and for the entire listening I thought that there is only paperback available.

Long listen!

It sometimes gets tedious, but work through it! it freshens up nicely.

Would recommend it to anyone who has some exposure to analysis!