Customer Reviews:
 Prime Numbers Are Cool - ((10^100+1)^100)+16456 March 6, 2007
jcearls
The author of this book was kind enough to send me a free copy since only a few months ago it was not available at Amazon or any other online book stores I checked. Actually, I became a little worried that I would never be able to get a hold of a copy, but then Patrick De Geest (who runs the World of Numbers web site) came to the rescue and wrote to Enoch Haga (I knew Patrick because we are both "prime hunters") and so now Exploring Prime Numbers on Your PC and the Internet is available to the public and the world is a much better place for it.
This book is an excellent introduction to prime number theory and related programming concepts. It is written in crystal clear prose and many BASIC programs are included in full and discussed in detail which helps to greatly elucidate the mathematics. The book covers how primes have been used in cryptography, biology, logarithms, even religion (Chap 8, Cycling Through the Cosmos), and also why they have been sent into outer space, among other topics. Many interesting prime problems in music, literature and art are also suggested.
The author also has a good sense of humor and spices up the narrative in many places with funny neologisms ("gazinta" - defined in the text), and by placing original drawings at the beginning of each chapter, among other things.
Every high school library should have a copy of this book in case a curious student wants a good introduction to the fascinating world of prime number theory and computation.
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