Rating: 
Summary: Full of info
Review: ...but poorly written. It's very interesting in a historical sense. For instance, Table 9 shows composite Mersenne's numbers up to n=251, most of them with question marks when a factor wasn't known to be composite or prime, and C when it was known to be composite but the factors weren't known. For instance, 2^101-1 was known to have at least 4 prime factors, but no factors were known. At the time (1964-1966), ENIAC was being used to compute such things. Yesterday, on my lowly Pentium 4, using Mathematica's built-in functions, I factored all the numbers completely in less than 45 minutes of computation time. One of them (2^251-1) took 34 minutes and 7 seconds and another took 5 minutes 10 seconds -- all the rest were very fast. It's amazing how much better the algorithms and computers are, today.
Rating:
Summary: Full of info
Review: ...but poorly written. It's very interesting in a historical sense. For instance, Table 9 shows composite Mersenne's numbers up to n=251, most of them with question marks when a factor wasn't known to be composite or prime, and C when it was known to be composite but the factors weren't known. For instance, 2^101-1 was known to have at least 4 prime factors, but no factors were known. At the time (1964-1966), ENIAC was being used to compute such things. Yesterday, on my lowly Pentium 4, using Mathematica's built-in functions, I factored all the numbers completely in less than 45 minutes of computation time. One of them (2^251-1) took 34 minutes and 7 seconds and another took 5 minutes 10 seconds -- all the rest were very fast. It's amazing how much better the algorithms and computers are, today.
Rating: 
Summary: The best writing in the field
Review: A classic in number theory and a great introduction for the newcomer. I use it in my research on Ancient Mathematics. Richard Brown, Research Director, 1248 Institute, Charleston, SC
Rating:
Summary: Deep insights into Number Theory, Well Written, Often quoted
Review: A classic in number theory and a great introduction for the newcomer. I use it in my research on Ancient Mathematics. Richard Brown, Research Director, 1248 Institute, Charleston, SC
Rating: 
Summary: Full of info, but poorly written.
Review: And NOT written in a recreational style, by any means.
Rating:
Summary: The best writing in the field
Review: For one reason or another, this book contains the clearest exposition of Mersenne primes and quadratic residues I have ever read. It is very heavy on results and very light on proofs, so don't expect to learn anything here, but expect to be entertained.
Rating:
Summary: Recreational Mathematics Is Not A Contradiction In Terms
Review: If you are curious about numbers (as I am), this is one of several books you need to have in your library. It is informative, entertaining, comprehensive and easy to read, even if you are not blessed with a mathematics degree from an institution of higher learning.This book is well-organized, beginning with topics that are easy to grasp, then going on to more complicated ideas. The contents include such terms as prime numbers, perfect numbers, amicable pairs, sociable numbers, divisors, congruences, cyclical numbers, repunits (a term the author coined) and logarithms. The book reveals many curiosities about common artcles such as squares, triangles and circles. More complex topics such as a resolution of a number into prime factors and Pell equalities are shown in a manner that is informative and easy to comprehend. The grand climax of the book is a stirring discussion of Fermat's Last Theorem. This volume remains a 'good read' despite the fact that it is almost forty years old. Although much of what it in this book has been superceded over the course of time, this boof is not obsolete. If you have any interest in numbers, buy this book if you do not already possess a copy of it.
Rating:
Summary: Lots of examples, lots of tables, lots of fun
Review: This book was my first exposure to Number Theory, coming from an engineering background. This book got me hooked. You could almost say the book takes an engineering approach to number theory: Lots of examples, lots of tables but not a lot of rigorous, long proofs. This book is set apart from most textbooks by those facts. You won't find such extensive examples and tables in any textbook (and I have about 50+ texts on Number Theory). Conversly, no self-respesting professor could present so many results without proof. But that's the fun of this book. I recommend this book over "An Adventures Guide to Number Theory" by Richard Friedberg for uninitiated.
Rating:
Summary: A classic
Review: This is a great book for math amatuers like myself. Expertly written. Great introduction. Great examples. A must read for anyone interested in learning more about the pure science of number theory.
Rating:
Summary: A classic
Review: This is a great book for math amatuers like myself. Expertly written. Great introduction. Great examples. A must read for anyone interested in learning more about the pure science of number theory.
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