This book is almost totally the reverse of the preceding book. It avoids any 'gee-wiz' butterfly effect stuff but goes more to the heart of the matter. In eight short chapters it attempts to explain to the reader what mathematics is about, not the usual application orientated approach of so much popular science, but a concept by concept, proof by proof approach. This may be unfashionable and is certainly harder to read, but by the end I had a real sense of having learnt something useful from this book. This is not a book to read on the bus and does make certain demands on the reader, but still I would strongly recommend it. This is a book about the form and structure of a topic, not just its applications.
Oxford University Press, 143 pages