Nice Numbers

In this intriguing book, John Barnes takes us on a journey through aspects of numbers much as he took us on a geometrical journey in Gems of Geometry. Similarly originating from a series of lectures for adult students at Reading and Oxford University, this book touches a variety of amusing and fascinating topics regarding numbers and their uses both ancient and modern.
The author informs and intrigues his audience with both fundamental number topics such as prime numbers and cryptography, and themes of daily needs and pleasures such as counting one's assets, keeping track of time, and enjoying music. Puzzles and exercises at the end of each lecture offer additional inspiration, and numerous illustrations accompany the reader. Furthermore, a number of appendices provides in-depth insights into diverse topics such as Pascal's triangle, the Rubik cube, Mersenne's curious keyboards, and many others. A theme running through is the thought of what is our favourite number.
Written in an engaging and witty style and requiring only basic school mathematical knowledge, this book will appeal to both young and mature readers fascinated by the curiosities of numbers.

Dr Barnes' principal achievements have been in the area of computer programming language design. He designed the language RTL/2 whilst with ICI. This was widely used in the 1970s and 80s for process control in the UK, the Netherlands and South Africa. The first ticket barrier system on the London Underground was an early example. He was a member of the Ada language design teams. Ada is widely used in safety critical applications such as those found in defence systems generally, avionics, air traffic control and railroad signalling. He has published twelve books: RTL/2 Design and Philosophy (1976); Programming in Ada (1982); Programming in Ada 95 (1996); High Integrity Ada (1997); Ada 95 Rationale (1997); High Integrity Software (2003); Programming in Ada 2005 (2006); Ada 2005 Rationale (2008); Gems of Geometry (2009); SPARK (2012); Ada 2012 Rationale (2013); Programming in Ada 2012 (2014). 'Programming in Ada' went through four editions and was translated into six languages.