In this fascinating and richly illustrated book, Dana Mackenzie brings to life the 4000-year history of mathematics through the lives and work of its greatest practitioners.

• Discover the world's simplest equation and what it means

• Find out how Newton's Laws of Motion help us do everything from building bridges to predicting the weather

• See how mathematics got nasty and personal in 16th-century Italy

• Understand how Newton and Leibniz unlocked the key to mastering infinity with the fundamental theorem of calculus

• Find out how Fermat's Last Theorem was solved after 350 years.