Why is 11 eleven and not oneteen, and 12 twelve and not twoteen? Why of all bases, has this strange number 2.718… been chosen as the natural logarithm base called e? Why does the computer use such a strange notation as F29 to denote 3881? These are questions that may have arisen in the curious minds of young learners. Here, by answering a few of these questions, the author brings out the innately fascinating quality of mathematics and its astonishing ability to explain many mysterious phenomena of nature. The material for Short Stories of Numbers has been collected by the author over years of adventuring in mathematics, motivated only by his love and passion for numbers and with the hope that it will serve as a friendly encouraging guiding post for other young adventurers.
Rajnish Kumar is a deputy chief mechanical engineer in the Indian Railways.
Evolution of the Notation of Numbers Origin of the Mathematical Operators, Terms and Symbols Etymology of Algebra Why is Eleven not Oneteen and Twelve not Twoteen? The World’s Largest Number Sifr: The Father of Zero Why is there no Nobel Prize in Mathematics? Mysterious Infinity Misunderstood Calculus Four Fours Happy Numbers The Five Nines The Good Number Sum Equal to Product, Really Multiplication Table Divisibility Funda Printer’s Errors Digital Variants 0123456789 and More Mystifying 1729 and Ramanujan Lilavati Amicable Numbers Bicycle with Square Wheels Perfect Numbers Numbers in the Bible Kaprekar Numbers Palindromes Weights and Lesser Weights Best Currency System Why the Decimal System? Binary is Okay but Why Hexadecimal in Computers? HCF and LCM Power of Indices, Reaching the Moon and The Inventor of Chess Instant Cube Root: Mathemagic Calculating the Size of the Earth: Trigonometrical Potentialities Sequences and Series Amazing Inductive Power: Mathematical Induction Strange Geometry: Topology Redefined Geometry in the Universe Some Dissections Why Worry About Population Explosion? Nature’s Own Series: Fibonacci Nature’s Own Number: ϕ (Phi) The Story of e and π i, Is it Really Imaginary? The Eternal Search for Primes Truncating Primes Why are there 360º in a Circle? The Platonic Solids Magic Squares Almost Integers End Note: What is Mathematics? Books to Read Index