This book depicts the fascinating life story of Wu Wenjun, a renowned mathematician who made significant contribution in the field of topology, ancient Chinese mathematics, and mathematics mechanization. He was a recipient of the Highest Science and Technology Award, the highest scientific award in China, as well as the Shaw Prize in Mathematics.Through vivid illustrations and eloquent writing, this book recounts rarely known anecdotes and significant events from Wu Wenjun's life through his childhood, education, and scientific career, offering insights into his life values.

In this book, we first review the history and current situation of the perfect number problem, including the origin story of the Mersenne primes, and then consider the history and current situation of the Fibonacci sequence. Both topics include results from our own research. In the later sections, we define the square sum perfect numbers, and describe for the first time the secret relationships connecting the square sum perfect numbers, the Fibonacci sequence, the Lucas sequence, the twin prime conjecture, and the Fermat primes. Throughout, we raise various interesting questions and conjectures.

Natural numbers are the oldest human inventions. This volume describes their nature, laws, history and current status. The first five chapters contain not only the basics of elementary number theory for the convenience of teaching and continuity of reading, but also many latest research results. For the first time in history, the Chinese Remainder Theorem is renamed the Qin Jiushao Theorem to give him the full credit for his establishment of this famous theorem in number theory. Chapter 6 is about the fascinating congruence modulo an integer power, and Chapter 7 introduces a new problem extracted by the author from the classical problems of number theory, which is out of the combination of additive number theory and multiplicative number theory.In this volume, there is supplementary material after each section to broaden the reader's knowledge and imagination. It either discusses the rudiments of some aspects or introduces new topics, such as the perfect number problem, Goldbach's conjecture, the twin prime conjecture, the 3x + 1 problem, Waring's problem, Catalan's conjecture, Euler's conjecture, Fermat's Last Theorem, etc.Originally published in Chinese as in 2014, The Book of Numbers is written for anyone who loves natural numbers. The author is not only a mathematician, but also a literary and science writer, with more than 20 books published, many of which were translated into 20 languages.

Natural numbers are the oldest human invention. This book describes their nature, laws, history and current status. It has seven chapters. The first five chapters contain not only the basics of elementary number theory for the convenience of teaching and continuity of reading, but also many latest research results. The first time in history, the traditional name of the Chinese Remainder Theorem is replaced with the Qin Jiushao Theorem in the book to give him a full credit for his establishment of this famous theorem in number theory. Chapter 6 is about the fascinating congruence modulo an integer power, and Chapter 7 introduces a new problem extracted by the author from the classical problems of number theory, which is out of the combination of additive number theory and multiplicative number theory.One feature of the book is the supplementary material after each section, there by broadening the reader's knowledge and imagination. These contents either discuss the rudiments of some aspects or introduce new problems or conjectures and their extensions, such as perfect number problem, Egyptian fraction problem, Goldbach's conjecture, the twin prime conjecture, the 3x + 1 problem, Hilbert Waring problem, Euler's conjecture, Fermat's Last Theorem, Laudau's problem and etc.This book is written for anyone who loves natural numbers, and it can also be read by mathematics majors, graduate students, and researchers. The book contains many illustrations and tables. Readers can appreciate the author's sensitivity of history, broad range of knowledge, and elegant writing style, while benefiting from the classical works and great achievements of masters in number theory.

This volume, originally published in China and translated into four other languages, presents a fascinating and unique account of the history of mathematics, divided into eight chronologically organized chapters. Tracing the development of mathematics across disparate regions and peoples, with particular emphasis on the relationship between mathematics and civilization, it examines mathematical sources and inspirations leading from Egypt, Babylon and ancient Greece and expanding to include Chinese, Indian and Arabic mathematics, the European Renaissance and the French revolution up through the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Each chapter explores connections among mathematics and cultural elements of the time and place treated, accompanying the reader in a varied and exciting journey through human civilizations. The book contemplates the intersections of mathematics with other disciplines, including the relationship between modern mathematics and modern art, and the resulting applications, with the aid of images and photographs, often taken by the author, which further enhance the enjoyment for the reader. Written for a general audience, this book will be of interest to anyone who's studied mathematics in university or even high school, while also benefiting researchers in mathematics and the humanities.