Wonders of numbers Adventures in mathematics, mind, and meaning

Anyone looking for "quirky" ideas in mathematics will enjoy this book. With the aid of the fanciful Dr. Francis Googol, Pickover (IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center) asks readers to explore his vast collection of unusual ideas such as X-File numbers, alien snow, parasite numbers, schizophrenic numbers, fractal checkers, and Mozart numbers. "Quirky" trivia are interspersed among the explorations, such as a ranking of the five strangest mathematicians, the five saddest mathematical scandals, the ten most interesting numbers, and an overview of the numerical obsessive-compulsive disorder (and possible cures). After introducing more than a hundred strange mathematical ideas, the author leaves the readers-turned-explorers on their own, supported only by a final chapter on hints/extended explorations, a list of references that documents the source of some of the ideas, and a Web site with the relevant computer code for further exploring the ideas. An index is included, but readers are forewarned that many of the reference terms listed are nonstandard. Like most of the author's other works, this book has potential, is fun, and crosses the border into the strange. Oddly, this latter world is exactly why some people study mathematics and others intentionally avoid it. General readers; undergraduates through faculty. J. Johnson Western Washington University