Preface
1. Natural Numbers
1.1 Counting
1.2 Properties of numbers
1.3 Magic squares
1.4 Prime numbers
1.5 From Pythagoras to Fermat
1.6 What are natural numbers?
1.7 Applications: Cryptography
2. Representations of numbers
2.1 How were numbers represented in former times?
2.2 The abacus and counting board
2.3 The decimal system
2.4 Divisibility rules
2.5 Binary numbers
2.6 Applications: Barcodes
3. Rational and irrational
3.1 Fractions
3.2 Ratios
3.3 Rational numbers
3.4 Irrational numbers: The first crisis
3.5 Decimal numbers
4. Transcendental numbers
4.1 The most mysterious number
4.2 Limits
4.3 How many transcendental numbers are there?
5. Imaginary and complex
5.1 Linear equations
5.2 Quadratic equations
5.3 The drama of the cubic equation
5.4 The tragedy of the quintic equation
5.5 Every equation can be solved!
Notes from the translators
Bibliography
Index