Books
21 April 2021

Ritratti dell’infinito

by Odifreddi Piergiorgio, Odifreddi Piergiorgio, Odifreddi Piergiorgio
Ritratti dell’infinito

Artists and writers, theologians and philosophers, scientists and mathematicians have all discussed the infinite. Its association with God, with the unknowable is almost taken for granted.

In this intriguing book, Odifreddi shows us the number of disparate concepts that have been clumped together behind the umbrella of a single word. So, while teaching us to distinguish between “immense” and “unlimited”, “indefinite” and “unattainable”, and relying on illustrious examples from all over the world (from Catullus to Kubrick, from the Buddha to Shakespeare), he takes us on a journey that stimulates our intelligence thanks to some witty gymnastics of the mind. In this one of a kind book the attempts to give an explanation to what man would see if the doors of perception were opened are divided into 3 groups –literary men & artists, philosophers & theologians and logicians & mathematicians – which are observed, analyzed and finally read from a mathematical point of view (these “technical” parts are at the end of each chapter, so that those who prefer to enjoy an exclusively humanistic reading can skip them).

  • Publishing house Rizzoli
  • Year of publication 2020
  • Number of pages 329
  • ISBN 9788817148689
  • Foreign Rights Sonia Finotello
  • Ebook
  • Awards Premio Galileo per la divulgazione scientifica 2011
  • Price 20.00 €

Odifreddi Piergiorgio, Odifreddi Piergiorgio, Odifreddi Piergiorgio

(1950), studied Mathematics in Italy, the USA and the USSR and taught Logic at the University of Turin and Cornell University. He collaborates with Repubblica and Le Scienze. In 2011 he won the Galileo prize for scientific education. Among his books with Rizzoli,  Il museo dei numeri (2014), Il giro del mondo in 80 pensieri (2015), Il dizionario della stupidità (2016), and Il genio delle donne (2019).

Ritratti dell’infinito
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