This is a slog, and to get the most out of it, you really need a piece of paper and a pencil handy while reading it.  Who would have thought that the Babylonians and Egyptians were so advanced?  And the greeks!  To follow the discussion of their accomplishments, you need to draw out the diagram and play with them to undstand--but it is worth it.  I never knew how much "algebra" could be done with geometrical figures, it is true revelation.  To understand what I mean, just look at some of the proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem (A squared plus B squared equals C squared) that were done long before Algebra, arabic numerals, decimal numbers, orthe concept of zero.<br><br>It is actually quite an important lesson to learn.<br><br>I can't wait to get further into this book, but it is a lot of work.