Maths is crucial to everyday life - yet the mathematics driving the development of modern physics seems ever more detached from realityBestselling popular science author Brian Clegg, widely admired for his ability to explain key scientific ideas to non-experts, takes a fun but in-depth look at the history of numbers and their applications in life and science. Have you ever wondered what human beings did before numbers existed? How did they organise their lives, trade goods and keep track of their wealth? What would our lives be like today without numbers?From the devising of a new counting system based on goats, through the weird and wonderful mathematics of imaginary numbers and infinity to the debate over whether mathematics has too much influence on the direction of contemporary science, this fascinating and accessible book opens our eyes to the uncanny relationships between maths and the physical world.