Mathematics shapes almost everything we do. But despite its reputation as the study of fundamental truths, the stories we have been told about it are wrong--warped like the sixteenth-century map that enlarged Europe at the expense of Africa, Asia and the Americas. In The Secret Lives of Numbers, renowned math historian Kate Kitagawa and journalist Timothy Revell make the case that the history of math is infinitely deeper, broader, and richer than the narrative we think we know.

First published in the United Kingdom by Viking.

In the beginning -- The turtle and the emperor -- A town called Alex -- The dawn of time -- On the origin(s) of zero -- The house of wisdom -- The impossible dream -- The (first) calculus pioneers -- Newtonianism for ladies -- A grand synthesis -- The mathematical mermaid -- Revolutions -- = -- Mapping the stars -- Number-crunching.