first edition
1940 · New York
by Kasner, Edward; James Newman; Rufus Isaacs [Artwork]
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1940. First edition. First edition. (First printing with title page dated 1940 and no additional printings indicated on copyright page.) xiv, 380, [1] pp. Bound in publisher's red cloth with gilt lettering. Near Fine with light rubbing along edges and to gilt, in Very Good+ price-clipped dust jacket with thin closed tear near head, small stain to rear panel, toning along edges of flaps. Nice shape overall. Rare as a first printing.An engaging and accessible volume on mathematics. This first edition lays claim to the first published use of the now era-defining term "google" (or, as it was originally, the "Googolplex"). Kasner describes with good humor both the immense breadth of the number the Googolplex represents, and the coinage of the term itself from the mouth of his nine-year-old nephew.
(Inventory #: 140944630)