Ian Stewart - Taming the Infinite

"Whether you like arithmetic or not, it is hard to deny the profound effects that numbers have had on the development of human civilization. The evolution of culture, and that of mathematics, has gone hand in hand for the last four millennia. I would hesitate to argue that mathematical innovation drives cultural change, or that cultural needs determine the direction of mathematical progress. But both of those statements contain a grain of truth, because mathematics and culture co-evolve."