The Music of the Primes

This has been a truly fascinating read. Best non-fiction read of the year so far.
Marcus du Sautoy, who is a professor in Oxford himself, takes the reader on a journey through the history of mathematics and specifically number theory. I never knew how fascinating this world actually is. You really don't need to have a PhD in mathematics to understand this book, the author is really trying to explain concepts in laymens terms. Some average highschool math skills is enough to be able to follow and appreciate the book. Having said that, at points some advanced theories can't really be explained in easy ways and you need to take the authors word for it. I was more then ok with that, as it never stood in the way of the overarching story.

When I was at highschool, a shocking long time ago, I learned quite some math (for the Dutch among us, wiskunde A and B at VWO level). I never liked it, not really. I was not particular good nor bad at it, I just thought it was boring and tedious. As a consequence I almost forgot everything.
If there would have been one teacher who would have been able to show the beauty of number theory as Marcus du Sautiy does in this book, I am sure I might have chosen a different study and career path...
This book made me go back to my old math books and, while I still don't understand what I understood 30 years ago, I appreciated it way more then I ever did.

If a book can do that, it is definitely worth 5 stars.