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Dr. Manning's book on irrational numbers contains a presentation in a simple form of another field of mathematical inquiry, such as is also eminently_ suited for placing in the hands of the ordinary schoolmaster. We have decided that the geometry of proportion shall be taught to schoolboys without reference to irrational quantities, but we have not yet eliminated a spirit of reckless extravagance in the quite unnecessary use of infinite series, often with total disregard for their convergency. In Dr. Manning's treatment an irrational number is defined as forming a point of separation between rational numbers of two classes, the numbers of one class being less than those of the other. This definition appears to involve the assumption (pp. 7, 10, &c.) that the point of separation is unique, in other words, that there cannot be two irrational numbers which have not some rational number separating them. Perhaps this assumption may be regarded as a definition of equality of irrational numbers; in any case, the inquiring reader would find it necessary to examine more fully the references to Dedekind's and Cantor's writings given on p. 56. Once the assumption or definition is made, the representation of numbers by sequences readily follows. The theory of limits is discussed on p. 57, and in the following chapter the notion of a sequence is shown to give rise to that of a series. The remaining portion of the book is mainly devoted to the study of convergence, and includes the well-known multiplication theorem and applications to the still better-known binomial and exponential series. -Nature, Vol. 75

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