In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World
E589565
In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World is a popular science book by mathematician Ian Stewart that explores the history, impact, and ideas behind seventeen landmark mathematical equations that have shaped modern civilization.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T6389518 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World Context triple: [Ian Stewart, notableWork, In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World]
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A.
The Beginning of Infinity
The Beginning of Infinity is a philosophical and scientific book by physicist David Deutsch that explores the nature of knowledge, progress, and the potential for unbounded human improvement through better explanations.
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B.
The Man Who Loved Only Numbers
The Man Who Loved Only Numbers is a popular biography of Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős, portraying his eccentric life, prolific collaborations, and profound impact on 20th-century mathematics.
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C.
The Measure of Reality
The Measure of Reality is a historical study by Alfred W. Crosby that explores how quantification and measurement transformed Western thought and culture from the Middle Ages onward.
-
D.
The Magic of Reality
The Magic of Reality is a popular science book by Richard Dawkins that explains natural phenomena and scientific concepts in an accessible way, often contrasting them with traditional myths and supernatural explanations.
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E.
Feynman’s Lost Lecture
Feynman’s Lost Lecture is a published reconstruction of a 1964 Richard Feynman physics lecture on planetary orbits, edited and contextualized by David and Judith Goodstein.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World Target entity description: In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World is a popular science book by mathematician Ian Stewart that explores the history, impact, and ideas behind seventeen landmark mathematical equations that have shaped modern civilization.
-
A.
The Beginning of Infinity
The Beginning of Infinity is a philosophical and scientific book by physicist David Deutsch that explores the nature of knowledge, progress, and the potential for unbounded human improvement through better explanations.
-
B.
The Man Who Loved Only Numbers
The Man Who Loved Only Numbers is a popular biography of Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős, portraying his eccentric life, prolific collaborations, and profound impact on 20th-century mathematics.
-
C.
The Measure of Reality
The Measure of Reality is a historical study by Alfred W. Crosby that explores how quantification and measurement transformed Western thought and culture from the Middle Ages onward.
-
D.
The Magic of Reality
The Magic of Reality is a popular science book by Richard Dawkins that explains natural phenomena and scientific concepts in an accessible way, often contrasting them with traditional myths and supernatural explanations.
-
E.
Feynman’s Lost Lecture
Feynman’s Lost Lecture is a published reconstruction of a 1964 Richard Feynman physics lecture on planetary orbits, edited and contextualized by David and Judith Goodstein.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf | popular science book ⓘ |
| aimsAt | general audience ⓘ |
| author | Ian Stewart ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin | United Kingdom ⓘ |
| explains |
applications of equations in everyday life
ⓘ
how equations shape modern civilization ⓘ |
| explores |
historical context of equations
ⓘ
ideas behind important equations ⓘ scientific impact of equations ⓘ technological impact of equations ⓘ |
| focusesOn | landmark mathematical equations ⓘ |
| genre | popular mathematics ⓘ |
| hasAuthorProfession | mathematician ⓘ |
| hasFormat |
e-book edition
ⓘ
hardcover edition ⓘ paperback edition ⓘ |
| hasNotableEquation |
Black–Scholes equation
ⓘ
linked to:
Black–Scholes model
Euler’s formula for complex exponentials ⓘ Fourier transform ⓘ Maxwell’s equations ⓘ
linked to:
Maxwell's equations
Navier–Stokes equation ⓘ
linked to:
Navier–Stokes equations
Newton’s law of gravitation ⓘ
linked to:
law of universal gravitation
Pythagorean theorem ⓘ Schrödinger equation ⓘ calculus ⓘ information theory equation ⓘ logarithms ⓘ normal distribution ⓘ relativity equation E = mc^2 ⓘ second law of thermodynamics ⓘ wave equation ⓘ |
| intendedFor |
readers interested in mathematics history
ⓘ
readers interested in science ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| mediaType | print ⓘ |
| numberOfEquationsDiscussed | 17 ⓘ |
| publicationYear | 2012 ⓘ |
| publisher | Profile Books ⓘ |
| relatedWorkByAuthor |
Professor Stewart’s Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities
ⓘ
Professor Stewart’s Hoard of Mathematical Treasures ⓘ |
| structure | each chapter devoted to one equation ⓘ |
| subject |
history of mathematics
ⓘ
impact of mathematics on society ⓘ mathematics ⓘ science ⓘ technology ⓘ |
| writtenBy | British mathematician ⓘ |
| writtenIn | accessible style ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World Description of subject: In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World is a popular science book by mathematician Ian Stewart that explores the history, impact, and ideas behind seventeen landmark mathematical equations that have shaped modern civilization.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.