Overall this is an interesting addition to the genre of popular science. More philosophical argument than mathematical text. You do not need an advanced maths qualification to get something out of The Big Bang Of Numbers, however you do need to be comfortable using numbers.

In this new mathematical origin story, mathematician and novelist Manil Suri creates a natural progression of ideas needed to design our world, starting with numbers and continuing through geometry, algebra, and beyond. He reveals the secret lives of real and imaginary numbers, teaches them to play abstract games with real-world applications, discovers unexpected patterns that connect humble lifeforms to enormous galaxies, and explores mathematical underpinnings for randomness and beauty. With evocative examples ranging from multidimensional crochet to the Mona Lisa’s asymmetrical smile, as well as ingenious storytelling that helps illuminate complex concepts like infinity and relativity, The Big Bang of Numbers charts a playful, inventive course to existence. Mathematics, Suri shows, might best be understood not as something we invent to explain Nature, but as the source of all creation, whose directives Nature tries to obey as best she can. In this new mathematical origin story, mathematician and award-winning novelist Manil Suri creates a natural progression of ideas needed to design our world, starting with numbers and continuing through geometry, algebra, and beyond. With evocative and engaging examples ranging from multidimensional crochet to the Mona Lisa's asymmetrical smile, as well as ingenious storytelling that helps illuminate complex concepts like infinity and relativity, The Big Bang of Numbers charts a playful, inventive course to existence. The Big Bang of Numbers was shortlisted for the 2023 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award.Watch the full book club meeting and leave your own question in the comments at the bottom of this article. In his role as math professor, Suri works hard to convince his students that math doesn’t just matter, it is also endlessly interesting—extending his instruction well beyond the basics of calculations and into the field’s fundamental ideas.

So the glib answer to your question whether math’s invented or discovered is that you have to create a new word. Instead of discovered or invented it’s “disvented.” Who knew numbers could be so charming? ... Suri takes us on a light-hearted journey all the way from nothing (zero) to infinity' Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves Our universe has multiple origin stories, from religious creation myths to the Big Bang of scientists. But if we leave those behind and start from nothing – no matter, no cosmos, not even empty space – could we create a universe using only math? Once numbers have been created we then move on to how geometry would develop. Where possible practical examples are given to illustrate ideas, I particularly liked the use of crochet to explain the hyperbolic plane.The aim of my book is to challenge the popular notion that mathematics is synonymous with calculation. Starting with arithmetic and proceeding through algebra and beyond, the message drummed into our heads as students is that we do math to ‘get the right answer.’ The drill of multiplication tables, the drudgery of long division, the quadratic formula and its memorization – these are the dreary memories many of us carry around from school as a result.