I anticipated that Numerology would be a well-written, user-friendly book. I am pleased to announce that Dudley's latest book exceeded my expectations in every respect. It is especially noteworthy that the author's practice of summarizing the history of each topic that he discusses is carried over to this book. .Some chapters that contain very little mathematics are...fascinating. The chapters on Pythagoreanism and the ones on gematria, that is the art and science of assigning numbers to letters and thus to words, are in this category. The chapters on the history of numerology, the role of sevens in the Bible, books on numerology, and the chapter on round numbers are also nonmathematical, but well worth reading. In conclusion, the book is a delight - one that you will be glad to have read, but sorry to have finished.

Most of us, regardless of mathematical training, firmly believe that numbers have great power and importance. Fewer in number, there are those who believe numbers have the ability to control events and determine our fates. These latter people, numerologists, are the subject of Dudleys most recent examination of the abuses and misuses of numbers...Dudley provides a history of numerology starting with Pythaogras and his number mystic disciples some 2500 years ago, and provides numerous examples, past and present. Featured here are the Bible-numberists, who placed special significance on the numerous sevens and perfect squares found in the Bible; the pyramidologists, who believed that the world would end on August 20, 1953 (oops!); the modern-day Oxford scholar who believes that Shakespeare wrote his sonnets with great dedication to triangular numbers; and many others. A fun read for anybody who enjoys other people's silliness. Requiring no specific mathematical ! knowledge beyond arithmetic. Numerology is highly recommended.