As a quick glance through this book will indicate, some of the equations presented are well-known and simple whereas others can look awfully intimidating. A given reader may be intimately familiar with several of these equations while at the same time be totally unaware of some of the others or their significance. The author does not provide mathematical derivations of these equations. Instead, he describes how they came about, explains their meanings and applications and then discusses their legacy. Several fields are covered in this fascinating book: physics, engineering, mathematics, statistics, information theory, chaos and economics.
The author writes very clearly and in a friendly, lively and engaging style. In some sections the author seems to assume very little or no pertinent knowledge on the part of the reader and as a result is very careful and detailed in his explanations, e.g., logarithms, calculus. In other cases, the discussions are much more challenging, and although new terms are briefly defined, the discussions may still result in some head scratching, e.g., quantum mechanics, Black-Scholes equation. Consequently, it is difficult to determine at what population this book is aimed. Science buffs may be bored by some of the more elementary discussions but find themselves more challenged by the topics on which they know very little. On the other hand, a younger (or less-informed) reader may learn quite a bit from the elementary discussions but get lost in some of the other sections.
Overall, I think that it is safe to say that this book has something for everyone. Although I did find some sections rather challenging, I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed it.
