Mathematics and Mechanics - The Interplay

Mathematics and Mechanics - The Interplay
Author: Luigi Morino
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 1019
Release: 2021-06-19
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 3662632071

Mathematics plays an important role in mechanics and other human endeavours. Validating examples in this first volume include, for instance: the connection between the golden ratio (the “divine proportion" used by Phidias and many other artists and enshrined in Leonardo's Vitruvian Man, shown on the front cover), and the Fibonacci spiral (observable in botany, e.g., in the placement of sunflower seeds); is the coast of Tuscany infinitely long?; the equal-time free fall of a feather and a lead ball in a vacuum; a simple diagnostic for changing your car's shocks; the Kepler laws of the planets; the dynamics of the Sun-Earth-Moon system; the tides' mechanism; the laws of friction and a wheel rolling down a partially icy slope; and many more. The style is colloquial. The emphasis is on intuition - lengthy but intuitive proofs are preferred to simple non-intuitive ones. The mathematical/mechanical sophistication gradually increases, making the volume widely accessible. Intuition is not at the expense of rigor. Except for grammar-school material, every statement that is later used is rigorously proven. Guidelines that facilitate the reading of the book are presented. The interplay between mathematics and mechanics is presented within a historical context, to show that often mechanics stimulated mathematical developments - Newton comes to mind. Sometimes mathematics was introduced independently of its mechanics applications, such as the absolute calculus for Einstein's general theory of relativity. Bio-sketches of all the scientists encountered are included and show that many of them dealt with both mathematics and mechanics.

Trends in Applications of Mathematics to Mechanics

Trends in Applications of Mathematics to Mechanics
Author: Johannes F. Besseling
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 367
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3642739334

In many areas of mechanics the interplay between mathematics and physics is crucial for understanding not only underlying principles but also practical applications. This is particularly the case in hydrodynamics and elasticity. Over thirty articles in this volume discuss various aspects including perturbation methods and applications, instability, bifurcations and transition to chaos, multibody dynamics and control, mechanics and mathematics of non-classical materials, and new interactions of mathematics and mechanics. The book addresses scientists and engineers working in these areas including those interested in applied mathematical analysis.

A Mathematical Gift, I

A Mathematical Gift, I
Author: Kenji Ueno
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
Total Pages: 156
Release: 2003
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 9780821832820

Three volumes originating from a series of lectures in mathematics given by professors of Kyoto University in Japan for high school students.

Second Year Calculus

Second Year Calculus
Author: David M. Bressoud
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 399
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1461209595

Second Year Calculus: From Celestial Mechanics to Special Relativity covers multi-variable and vector calculus, emphasizing the historical physical problems which gave rise to the concepts of calculus. The book guides us from the birth of the mechanized view of the world in Isaac Newton's Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy in which mathematics becomes the ultimate tool for modelling physical reality, to the dawn of a radically new and often counter-intuitive age in Albert Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity in which it is the mathematical model which suggests new aspects of that reality. The development of this process is discussed from the modern viewpoint of differential forms. Using this concept, the student learns to compute orbits and rocket trajectories, model flows and force fields, and derive the laws of electricity and magnetism. These exercises and observations of mathematical symmetry enable the student to better understand the interaction of physics and mathematics.

Random Trees

Random Trees
Author: Michael Drmota
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 466
Release: 2009-04-16
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 3211753575

The aim of this book is to provide a thorough introduction to various aspects of trees in random settings and a systematic treatment of the mathematical analysis techniques involved. It should serve as a reference book as well as a basis for future research.

The Mechanics and Thermodynamics of Continuous Media

The Mechanics and Thermodynamics of Continuous Media
Author: Miroslav Silhavy
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 511
Release: 2013-11-27
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3662033895

From the reviews: "The book is excellent, and covers a very broad area (usually treated as separate topics) from a unified perspective. [...] It will be very useful for both mathematicians and physicists." EMS Newsletter

Algebraic Methods in Statistical Mechanics and Quantum Field Theory

Algebraic Methods in Statistical Mechanics and Quantum Field Theory
Author: Dr. Gérard G. Emch
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2014-08-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0486151719

This systematic algebraic approach offers a careful formulation of the problems' physical motivations as well as self-contained descriptions of the mathematical methods for arriving at solutions. 1972 edition.

Circles Disturbed

Circles Disturbed
Author: Apostolos Doxiadis
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 593
Release: 2012-03-18
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1400842689

Why narrative is essential to mathematics Circles Disturbed brings together important thinkers in mathematics, history, and philosophy to explore the relationship between mathematics and narrative. The book's title recalls the last words of the great Greek mathematician Archimedes before he was slain by a Roman soldier—"Don't disturb my circles"—words that seem to refer to two radically different concerns: that of the practical person living in the concrete world of reality, and that of the theoretician lost in a world of abstraction. Stories and theorems are, in a sense, the natural languages of these two worlds—stories representing the way we act and interact, and theorems giving us pure thought, distilled from the hustle and bustle of reality. Yet, though the voices of stories and theorems seem totally different, they share profound connections and similarities. A book unlike any other, Circles Disturbed delves into topics such as the way in which historical and biographical narratives shape our understanding of mathematics and mathematicians, the development of "myths of origins" in mathematics, the structure and importance of mathematical dreams, the role of storytelling in the formation of mathematical intuitions, the ways mathematics helps us organize the way we think about narrative structure, and much more. In addition to the editors, the contributors are Amir Alexander, David Corfield, Peter Galison, Timothy Gowers, Michael Harris, David Herman, Federica La Nave, G.E.R. Lloyd, Uri Margolin, Colin McLarty, Jan Christoph Meister, Arkady Plotnitsky, and Bernard Teissier.

Production Factor Mathematics

Production Factor Mathematics
Author: Martin Grötschel
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 405
Release: 2010-08-05
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 364211248X

Mathematics as a production factor or driving force for innovation? Those, who want to know and understand why mathematics is deeply involved in the design of products, the layout of production processes and supply chains will find this book an indispensable and rich source. Describing the interplay between mathematical and engineering sciences the book focusses on questions like How can mathematics improve to the improvement of technological processes and products? What is happening already? Where are the deficits? What can we expect for the future? 19 articles written by mixed teams of authors of engineering, industry and mathematics offer a fascinating insight of the interaction between mathematics and engineering.

The Mathematical Mechanic

The Mathematical Mechanic
Author: Mark Levi
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 197
Release: 2009-07-06
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1400830478

Everybody knows that mathematics is indispensable to physics--imagine where we'd be today if Einstein and Newton didn't have the math to back up their ideas. But how many people realize that physics can be used to produce many astonishing and strikingly elegant solutions in mathematics? Mark Levi shows how in this delightful book, treating readers to a host of entertaining problems and mind-bending puzzlers that will amuse and inspire their inner physicist. Levi turns math and physics upside down, revealing how physics can simplify proofs and lead to quicker solutions and new theorems, and how physical solutions can illustrate why results are true in ways lengthy mathematical calculations never can. Did you know it's possible to derive the Pythagorean theorem by spinning a fish tank filled with water? Or that soap film holds the key to determining the cheapest container for a given volume? Or that the line of best fit for a data set can be found using a mechanical contraption made from a rod and springs? Levi demonstrates how to use physical intuition to solve these and other fascinating math problems. More than half the problems can be tackled by anyone with precalculus and basic geometry, while the more challenging problems require some calculus. This one-of-a-kind book explains physics and math concepts where needed, and includes an informative appendix of physical principles. The Mathematical Mechanic will appeal to anyone interested in the little-known connections between mathematics and physics and how both endeavors relate to the world around us.