No label defined (Q4457909)

For a review of the French orig. (Paris: Hermann, 1999) see Zbl 0932.00001. I think every mathematician has moments when he feels tired of the classical way of writing mathematics books: Definition, Theorem, Proof... For reasons of space and concision there is little room for the history of the ``growth'' of the mathematical object the book deals with. We are therefore dreaming about another way of writing mathematics. I think every mathematician would be delighted to write a book which charms the reader. ``The number \(\pi\)'' is such a book. The aim of the book is to take a glimpse at the way \(\pi\) arose in various branches of mathematics. The first chapter starts with the problem of measurement for the length and area of the circle. The definition of \(\pi\) due to Archimedes is then presented; some computations of areas and volumes illustrate how easily Archimedes handled mathematical techniques which were to be created centuries after his death. We see next how \(\pi\) arose in a classical problem of number theory (the asymptotic behaviour of \(\sum_nr(n)\), where \(r(n)\) is the number of different sums of two squares that amount to \(n\)) and in a problem of probability (Buffon's needle). The second chapter deals with the problem of the approximation of \(\pi\). Some infinite products and series related to \(\pi\) are presented here. We also mention Stirling's formula which associates \(\pi\) and \(e\), but also the formulae of Viète, Gregory-Leibniz, Machin and Wallis, and the problem of finding the regular continued fraction of \(\pi\). The third chapter is devoted to Euler. Within it we find several proofs for the formula \(\sum\limits_{n=1}^\infty \frac{1}{n^2}=\frac{\pi^2}{6}\), the asymptotic formulae for \(\sum_{d=1}^\infty\sigma(d)\) and \(\sum_{d=1}^\infty\varphi(d)\), the probability for a number to be squarefree and a study of the Bernoulli numbers with the aim of computing \(\zeta(2p)\) and showing that \(\frac{\zeta(2p)}{\pi^{2p}}\) is a rational number. The fourth chapter is algebraic. It deals with three classical problems of antiquity: the squaring of the circle, the duplication of the cube and the trisection of the angle. Several proofs of the irrationality of \(\pi\) also appear in this chapter. We also mention the proof of Beukers that \(\zeta(2)\) is irrational and that the same is true for \(\zeta(3)\) (the last result belongs to R. Apéry). We also find the proof of the transcendency of \(\pi\) and \(e\) and the solution of the celebrated problem of constructing the regular polygons with the ruler and compass (problem solved by Gauss). The fifth chapter deals with the approximation of \(\pi\) using elliptic integrals. We can find here Abel's solution of the problem of dividing the lemniscate arc into equal arcs using ruler and compass, the arithmetic-geometric mean algorithm formula of Gauss which links the perimeter of the circle to the one of the lemniscate and also Ramanujan's formula from 1914 (proved by the Borwein brothers in 1988). The last chapter presents the solutions of the exercises spread throughout the book. This book was written with such a skill that it will convince everyone that mathematics is not only difficult but also beautiful.