Attempts to convey some of the greatest equations of modern science to the non-mathematical reader.
Roger Penrose on Einstein's equations of General Relativity; John Maynard Smith on the equation in biology; Peter Galison, of Harvard University, on E=mc2; Robert May, President of the Royal Society, on the quadratic map; Graham Farmelo, Deputy Head of the Science Museum, on the Planck equation; Arthur Miller on the wave equation of Erwin Schrodinger; Oliver Morton, the award winning science journalist, on the Drake equation that predicts the likelihood of life beyond earth; a general essay by Steven Weinberg, Nobel Prize laureate and author of Dreams of a Final Theory.
"Graham Farmalo has done a magnificent job both of choosing a representative sample of great equations from across the spectrum of science and of assembling a superstar cast of authors to tell us about them."
- New Scientist
"The beauty of equations passes most of the human race by. But now we have a brilliantly readable book that absolutely revels in that beauty."
- Nature