About this item
The surprising history behind a ubiquitous facet of the United States: the gridded landscape. Seen from an airplane, much of the United States appears to be a gridded land of startling uniformity. Perpendicular streets and rectangular fields, all precisely measured and perfectly aligned, turn both urban and rural America into a checkerboard landscape that stretches from horizon to horizon. In evidence throughout the country, but especially the West, the pattern is a hallmark of American life. One might consider it an administrative convenience - an easy way to divide land and lay down streets - but it is not. The colossal grid carved into the North American continent, argues historian and writer Amir Alexander, is a plan redolent with philosophical and political meaning.
About the Author
Amir Alexander is a writer, historian, and mathematician living in Los Angeles.
His latest book, Infinitesimal: How a Dangerous Mathematical Theory Shaped the Modern World, brings to life the fierce struggles surrounding the infinitely small in the 17th century. At stake, he shows, was not just a mathematical concept, but the shape of the modern world, its social hierarchies and political order. The book is coming out in April of 2014, and will also be published in the UK, Japan, Brazil, and Romania.
In his previous book, "Duel at Dawn" (2010) , he offered a look at three romantic young mathematicians - Galois, Abel, and Bolyai - and showed how their mathematical breakthroughs were inseparable from their short and tragic lives and from the legends that grew around them. Writing in the New Criterion, Martin Gardner called the book, "a marvelous history."
Amir's first book, "Geometrical Landscapes," showed how early mathematicians came to view their research as a heroic voyage of exploration, setting the stage for modern mathematics. Published in 2002, it was called "an exceptional, seminal work" by Choice magazine.
Amir has taught history, philosophy, and the history of science at Stanford and UCLA, served on the editorial board of the journal Isis, and published extensively in academic journals. He is a contributor to the New York Times' 'Science Times' section, and his many popular articles on space-related topics have been extremely successful with the general public and have been translated into more than a dozen languages.
