Joseph Mazur 2005. Euclid in the Rainforest. Discovering the universal truth in logic and math New York: Plume, 334 pp.

Probability is how we investigate how close reality is to mathematics (paraphrasing Mazur slightly). I like that. (Thus, the Law of Large Numbers.)

Useful discussion of induction and deduction. Mazur explains that mathematical induction is different from scientific induction, but only by making it sound to me a lot like deduction (proof).

This book is all about how we know what we think we know. Plenty of metaphor and beautifully constructed like a well planned essay, returning to base at the end. A pleasure to read, despite slightly overdoing the Zeno tortoise and Achilles example, it was still great to find the real Zeno placed in Socrates’ time (p. 133).

Lots of other interesting ideas, examples and rich glimpses of history. I’ll be looking for a used copy to own and re-read…