THE MUSIC OF THE PRIMES by Marcus du Sautoy: find out more about the stories behind the mathematics.
Published by Fourth Estate, UK and HarperCollins, US.

The book is being translated into German, Italian, Hebrew, Japanese, Greek
and Korean.

Here are some of the things people have said about the book:

"Written with incisive clarity, Marcus du Sautoy's The Music of the Primes
tells an enthralling story." "the saga is also one of profoundly human
passions and griefs, of rivalries and collaborative labours. In what are
today somewhat tawdry times, the history of this great hunt is quite simply
one of rare human dignity. Du Sautoy brings it to passionate life even for
the layman. A book not to be put down."
George Steiner's Book of the Year in the Times Literary Supplement, December 5 2003.

"I was gripped by Marcus du Sautoy¹s The Music of the Primes, an exploration
of the mystery of prime numbers which has driven some mathematicians mad. I am innumerate, but this book is so well written, and tells its story so
vividly and with such interesting human detail, that even I could follow
much of it. I read every page, even those with lots of numbers on them."
Margaret Drabble's Book of the Year in the Guardian, December 6 2003.

"The Music of the Primes: Searching to Solve the Greatest Mystery in
Mathematics by Marcus du Sautoy (Fourth Estate, £18.99; offer £15.19) is my
pick of a wonderful crop of popular science books this year. We have entered
a new age of eloquent, informed scientific communicators, so that even the
most armchair of enthusiasts can get to grips with those key areas of
knowledge which shape the world around us."
Lisa Jardine's Book of the Year in the Times, December 6 2003.

It was also picked by the Economist as one of their books of the year.

"An amazing book! Hugely enjoyable. I could not put it down once I had
started. Du Sautoy provides a stunning journey into the world of primes, a
journey made human and even more enthralling because he presents the
personalities and lives of some of history¹s greatest mathematicians with
the same vividness and brilliance as he presents their ideas."
Oliver Sacks, Author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat.

"Du Sautoy provides a panoramic history of prime-number crunching, rich with
anecdote and unfailingly patient with the mathematical fine points."
Village Voice

"This fascinating account is written like the purest poetry. Marcus du
Sautoy¹s enthusiasm shines through every line of this hymn to the joy of
high intelligence, illuminating as it does so even the darkest corners of
his most arcane universe."
Simon Winchester, author of The Professor and the Madman

"Engaging. . . . [Du Sautoy] is a fluent expositor of more tractable
mathematics, and his portraits of math notables are quite vivid."
Publishers Weekly

"Fascinating."
Washington Post Book World

"A highly engaging and entertaining account of the problem that most
mathematicians put at the top of their most wanted list. No matter what your
mathematical IQ, you will enjoy reading The Music of the Primes."
Keith Devlin, Stanford University, author of The Math Gene and The
Millennium Problems: The Seven Greatest Unsolved Mathematical Puzzles of Our Time

"Du Sautoy shows how computers are used to discover reams of detail about
the primes and how this detail is important to Web commerce. His account of
current work takes us as close to the frontier as we can get without a
passport."
Los Angeles Times Book Review

"[T]his account is fascinating, filled with odd twists. . . . Marcus du
Sautoy attempts to explain some of the efforts that have been made on this
Everest of Mathematics."
Christian Science Monitor

"This is a wonderful book about one of the greatest remaining mysteries in
mathematics. Marcus du Sautoy has done an excellent job exploring this topic
and explaining the significance of prime numbers and the zeta function."
Amir Aczel, author of Fermat's Last Theorem and The Riddle of the Compass

"[A] lively history. . . . Du Sautoy keeps the story moving and gives a
clear sense of the way number theory is played in his accessible text. A
must for math buffs."
Kirkus Reviews

"Exceptional. . . . A book that will draw readers normally indifferent to
the subject deep into the adventure of mathematics."
Booklist

"Du Sautoy¹s narrative conjures up the characters and their profound ideas
with wonderful verve and a poetic gift for explanation. It is enormously
entertaining."
New Scientist

"Poignant. . . . As Marcus du Sautoy thrillingly shows, mathematicians love
numbers so much that they invest them with the properties of things." "Du
Sautoy brings out well the character of mathematicians and their world.
...as in Simon Singh's book Fermat's Last Theorem, the exhilaration of the
chase comes over even when you don't know exactly what the quarry looks
like"
Financial Times August 9 2003

"he brings hugely enjoyable writing, full of zest and passion, to the most
fundamental questions in the pursuit of true knowledge."
Marina Warner, The Sunday Times 10 August 2003

"du Sautoy provides an engaging and accessible history of work on prime
numbers and the Riemann Hypothesis. He also has an eye for modern
applications"
The Economist July 12 2003

"The connection between music and the primes is not trivial, but it is
cleverly made plausible to the mathematically terrified in this delightfully
entertaining book." "He has certainly been successful in setting up a
compelling dramatis personae of mathematicians, with every character vividly
illuminated with anecdotes and felicitous comment."
Graham Farmelo, The Guardian 6 September 2003

"Du Sautoy laces the ideas with history, anecdote and personalia - an
entertaining mix that renders an austere subject palatable." "Even those
with a mathematical allergy can enjoy du Sautoy's depictions of his cast of
characters, just as a vividly-written book about composers could hold the
attention of someone with no musical ear nor musical knowledge."
Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, The Times 13 August 2003

"Marcus du Sautoy whose combination of brains and charm should soften up
even the most wilfully innumerate of readers."
Jonathan Heawood, The Observer 24 August 2003

"this is a gripping, entertaining and thought-provoking book. Du Sautoy is
certainly a brilliant storyteller. Even if you don't understand the maths,
this is still a fascinating book."
Scarlett Thomas, The Sunday Independent

"Both the man and the book make a fascinating case for the importance of the
primes." "The book is full of neat cameos and clever metaphors. Du Sautoy
has uncovered a wealth of intriguing anecdotes that he has woven into a
compelling narrative."
Antony Andrew, The Observer 3 August 2003

"Marcus du Sautoy's The Music of the Primes is a mesmerising journey into
the world of mathematics. The subject - what are prime numbers and what are
their secrets? - is daunting but du Sautoy writes with admirable clarity and
verve"
Matthew d'Ancona, Daily Mail July 25 2003

"The story of that quest is told in an engrossing new book called THE MUSIC
OF THE PRIMES."
Godfrey Smith, The Sunday Times, September 28 2003

"Look swotty by carrying around maths book THE MUSIC OF THE PRIMES."
In Vogue November

"Marcus du Sautoy's entertaining book THE MUSIC OF THE PRIMES is aimed at
the more popular end of the market and looks certain to be a great success."
Timothy Gowers, Fields Medal winner 2002, in Nature vol 425 9 October 2003

"The Music of the Primes (Fourth Estate, £18.99), Prof Marcus du Sautoy's
fascinating new book on a mystery in the theory of numbers" "Prof du
Sautoy's book is an engrossing account of the struggle of some of the
world's most brilliant mathematicians to find the order amid this chaos, and
to hear the "music" of the primes."
The Daily Telegraph 3 September 2003

"du Sautoy offers an engaging account of
those -- including John Nash of A Beautiful Mind fame -- who have tried
and failed to make "the primes sing."
Maclean's May 19 2003

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