Benjamin Franklin's Numbers: An Unsung Mathematical Odyssey

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If I could sit down with anyone from the past, my choice would be easy: Benjamin Franklin. Franklin would have been easy to talk to, even if he might have been a little pedantic. But he was funny, and sociable, and what a résumé he has: diplomat, printer, businessman, scientist, inventor, musician, expert chess player, essayist, autobiographer. It is hard to think of any aspect of this myriad-minded man that has not been covered by previous biographers, but they have always tended to leave out his discoveries in mathematics. Paul C. Pasles, an associate professor of mathematical sciences, has now paid tribute to those discoveries, and has uncovered more of them than any previous biographer has known. _Benjamin Franklin's Numbers: An Unsung Mathematical Odyssey_ will be a delight for Franklin fans like me, and it will provide those who are interested in number puzzles, simple to complex, with much to play with. Pasles has included puzzles in every chapter, and, don't worry, has put all the answers and explanations in an appendix. Franklin's mathematical achievements are chiefly his discoveries in magic squares, and readers will come away not only with an appreciation of his mathematical cleverness, but of the beauty of the remarkable objects he discovered.

Franklin didn't do well in math at his school, but became adept at using numbers for his printing business, and had to be able to calculate for some of the tables in his famous almanacs. He used numbers for predictions of population statistics, but the magic square was his mathematical delight. A magic square is an arrangement of numbers in a square grid, generally starting from one and using each successive number in its box on the grid, so that the rows, columns, diagonals, and other patterns add up to the same sum. Franklin did his initial work on the squares around 1736, when he was bored by debates in the Pennsylvania Assembly, for which he was clerk. His attitude expressed in a letter sounds just like the one he had toward all his endeavors: "Not being content with these [regular properties of magic squares], which I looked on as common and easy things, I had imposed on myself more difficult tasks, and succeeded in making other magic squares, with a variety of properties, and much more curious." There are many of his eight-by-eight squares given here, some with elaborate keys; one shows that not only the rows and bent diagonals sum up properly to 260, but so do bent diagonals parallel to the corner-to-corner version, as do the four corner squares added to the four central squares, as do "knight's move" diagonals; and any 2-by-2 inner block of cells adds up to half of 260. Then there are the 16-by-16 monsters. And then there are the magic circles he invented, with radii and concentric circles adding up to a specific number, as do what Franklin called the "excentric" circles spiraling around the circular pattern.

Franklin knew that some of his magic square inventions were better than any that had ever been made. Of one, he wrote, "...for I make no question you will readily allow this square of 16 to be the most magically magical of any magic square ever made by any magician." And yet they represented Franklin at play, and he remained modest about his magic square efforts, writing later in life that he had amused himself at making magic squares because he had the leisure, leisure which "I still think I might have employed more usefully". Franklin was eventually disappointed in his studies in electricity because (when electrical storage was still primitive) it could not be made practical and beneficial, and maybe he would have felt this way about his magic squares as well. Utility, Pasles reminds us, is not the measure of good mathematics, however. "Our object," he writes, "is not to show that Franklin would have identified himself as a mathematician, only that he was adept at the systematic and creative ways of thinking about numbers, arrangements, and relationships that characterize mathematical thought." Pasles has included many of Franklin's squares, and printed many in colors that show the complicated weave of patterns within them. It is a wonderful introduction to an entirely new way of admiring a great thinker.

Benjamin Franklin's Numbers: An Unsung Mathematical Odyssey Features

• ISBN13: 9780691129563
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

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Price : $26.95
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Benjamin Franklin's Numbers: An Unsung Mathematical Odyssey Overviews

Few American lives have been as celebrated--or as closely scrutinized--as that of Benjamin Franklin. Yet until now Franklin's biographers have downplayed his interest in mathematics, at best portraying it as the idle musings of a brilliant and ever-restless mind. In Benjamin Franklin's Numbers, Paul Pasles reveals a side of the iconic statesman, scientist, and writer that few Americans know--his mathematical side.

In fact, Franklin indulged in many areas of mathematics, including number theory, geometry, statistics, and economics. In this generously illustrated book, Pasles gives us the first mathematical biography of Benjamin Franklin. He draws upon previously unknown sources to illustrate Franklin's genius for numbers as never before. Magic squares and circles were a lifelong fascination of Franklin's. Here, for the first time, Pasles gathers every one of these marvelous creations together in one place. He explains the mathematics behind them and Franklin's hugely popular Poor Richard's Almanac, which featured such things as population estimates and a host of mathematical digressions. Pasles even includes optional math problems that challenge readers to match wits with the bespectacled Founding Father himself. Written for a general audience, this book assumes no technical skills beyond basic arithmetic.

Benjamin Franklin's Numbers is a delightful blend of biography, history, and popular mathematics. If you think you already know Franklin's story, this entertaining and richly detailed book will make you think again.

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Customer Review

An Excellent Geeky Read - Michelle Entezari - Carlsbad, CA USA
This book explains how Franklin came to some of his conclusions within the realms of math and physics, with plenty of references, while remaining extremely entertaining. It also shows a bit of a mathematical basis for Franklin's daily decision making activities. Engaging, with some math puzzles to try on your own, and inspirational. I got this book from my local library, but loved it so much I had to go buy my own copy. I would recommend downloading Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography on [...](free) in addition to reading this book, if you want to go through a whole Benjamin Franlin obsession phase.

Ben"s Genius - Ely J. Titley - ct.usa
Benjamin Franklin's Numbers is very facinating, I never knew he more than a founding father. This is a great book for anyone who loves numbers and has a math background, something you won't learn in school.

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