---
product_id: 128112991
title: "Infinite Ascent: A Short History of Mathematics (Modern Library Chronicles)"
brand: "david berlinski"
price: "KD 7.60"
currency: KWD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 5
category: "Books"
url: https://www.desertcart.com.kw/products/128112991-infinite-ascent-a-short-history-of-mathematics-modern-library-chronicles
store_origin: KW
region: Kuwait
---

# Infinite Ascent: A Short History of Mathematics (Modern Library Chronicles)

**Brand:** david berlinski
**Price:** KD 7.60
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Infinite Ascent: A Short History of Mathematics (Modern Library Chronicles) by david berlinski
- **How much does it cost?** KD 7.60 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.com.kw](https://www.desertcart.com.kw/products/128112991-infinite-ascent-a-short-history-of-mathematics-modern-library-chronicles)

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## Description

Review
        	
        	
        		
        		
	        		
						
			        		&#x201C;For mathematically challenged folk like me, David Berlinski comes again to help with a thin volume that, like his A Tour of the Calculus, renders mathematics not easy, but accessible and absorbing. He portrays through history how mathematical thought evolved, from the genius of the few to its application by the many. Personalities, times, cultures, and opportunities all play their dramatic roles and Berlinski, knowing how they interacted, brings them vividly to life. You&#x2019;ll enjoy yourself.&#x201D; &#x2013;Paul McHugh, Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University&#x201C;This is literary science at its best. I was charmed by this top-down and introspective presentation of the subject of mathematics. It is not just highly readable; because it is one step above the subject, it can even inspire the professional.&#x201D; &#x2013;Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Dean&#x2019;s Professor in the Sciences of Uncertainty, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, author of Fooled by Randomness&#x201C;A humorous and graceful short history of mathematics, quite deceptively easy to read. Berlinski is actually a sophisticated insider, and every page of this book glows with his love of mathematics and with his sardonic appreciation for humanity&#x2019;s foibles.&#x201D;&#x2013;Gregory Chaitin, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, author of Meta Math! The Quest for Omega
						    	
					    	
						
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        		About the Author
        	
        	
        		
        		
	        		
						
			        		David Berlinski received his Ph.D. from Princeton University and has taught mathematics, philosophy, and English at Stanford, Rutgers, the University of Puget Sound, and the Universit&#xE9; de Paris at Jussieu. He has been a research fellow at both the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria and the Institut des Hautes &#xC9;tudes Scientifiques in France. His many books have been translated into more than a dozen European and Asian languages. His essays in Commentary have become famous. A senior fellow at the Discovery Institute in Seattle, he lives and works in Paris.
						    	
					    	
						
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## Images

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ His detractors simply don't like poetry.
        
*by J***S on February 4, 2015*

This book is for people who are interested in math and love poetry and the ways it can weave words to create images and feelings that are new to the reader. New experiences not just new concepts! Some people will always find fault with those whose thought processes are different than theirs. This book is very irritating to those who resent "fancy language" and feel that words they personally do not already know are more words than the English language really needs.Berlinski is a genius who can conjure up (for he is a magician with metaphors) new insights, moods and nuances using words as precisely as razor sharp mathematical concepts. Prosaic souls require that the meaning of a Berlinski sentence unfold itself in their minds instantaneously - or else the fault is Berlinski's. They accuse him of ostentation when he displays greater mastery of the English language than they possess. Criticism of his “…using metaphors and similes that serve no evident purpose…” reveals the intellectual poverty of the critic, not any failing of the poet. They resent the effort required to think a new thought forged in a new form, not noticing that their may be enormous intellectual content whose essence could never be reduced to computer input. A strictly either/or mind, a digital consciousness, cannot abide ambiguity.Berlinski is basically a poet who loves mathematics and science. This is a personal statement that brings more than mere concepts; it brings us new experiences by means of words.
  

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ insightful
        
*by M***E on February 26, 2014*

Other reviewers have pointed out the excesses in the use of metaphors and other uses of language in this book.  In addition, there are a fair number of errors, some of them egregious, as also noted in reviews.  The book is written, as well, at a fairly superficial level.  Unlike many reviewers, I regard these deficiencies as more than balanced by the presentation of history in the book.  In my view, the noted negative points are sufficient to give the book a somewhat lower rating than five stars.  On the other hand, I like the way the book was structured, and I felt that, for such a vast field as mathematics has become, Dr. Berlinski has encompassed some important and characteristic aspects of mathematics.  He transmits this information in a short book that is easy to read and understand.  I thought he gave a pretty good picture of various topics, and I liked his discussion of modern mathematics at the end of the book.  Some of what he writes borders on the brilliant.  Such a short history obviously needs to be supplemented with other readings and studies, but I enjoyed reading the book, and can recommend his treatment of history as insightful.
  

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Like a vial of intellectual ether
        
*by J***O on March 21, 2016*

Berlinski, in typical Berlinski style and wit is in his element with this one. Very interesting and entertaining. Like a vial of intellectual ether, this is definitely a good reviver of the love of learning.
  

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*Product available on Desertcart Kuwait*
*Store origin: KW*
*Last updated: 2026-03-17*