Visions of Infinity

Visions of Infinity
Author: Ian Stewart
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2013-03-05
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0465065996

It is one of the wonders of mathematics that, for every problem mathematicians solve, another awaits to perplex and galvanize them. Some of these problems are new, while others have puzzled and bewitched thinkers across the ages. Such challenges offer a tantalizing glimpse of the field's unlimited potential, and keep mathematicians looking toward the horizons of intellectual possibility. In Visions of Infinity, celebrated mathematician Ian Stewart provides a fascinating overview of the most formidable problems mathematicians have vanquished, and those that vex them still. He explains why these problems exist, what drives mathematicians to solve them, and why their efforts matter in the context of science as a whole. The three-century effort to prove Fermat's last theorem -- first posited in 1630, and finally solved by Andrew Wiles in 1995 -- led to the creation of algebraic number theory and complex analysis. The Poincare conjecture, which was cracked in 2002 by the eccentric genius Grigori Perelman, has become fundamental to mathematicians' understanding of three-dimensional shapes. But while mathematicians have made enormous advances in recent years, some problems continue to baffle us. Indeed, the Riemann hypothesis, which Stewart refers to as the "Holy Grail of pure mathematics," and the P/NP problem, which straddles mathematics and computer science, could easily remain unproved for another hundred years. An approachable and illuminating history of mathematics as told through fourteen of its greatest problems, Visions of Infinity reveals how mathematicians the world over are rising to the challenges set by their predecessors -- and how the enigmas of the past inevitably surrender to the powerful techniques of the present.

Four Colors Suffice

Four Colors Suffice
Author: Robin J. Wilson
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2002
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 9780691115337

On October 23, 1852, Professor Augustus De Morgan wrote a letter to a colleague, unaware that he was launching one of the most famous mathematical conundrums in history--one that would confound thousands of puzzlers for more than a century. This is the amazing story of how the "map problem" was solved. The problem posed in the letter came from a former student: What is the least possible number of colors needed to fill in any map (real or invented) so that neighboring counties are always colored differently? This deceptively simple question was of minimal interest to cartographers, who saw little need to limit how many colors they used. But the problem set off a frenzy among professional mathematicians and amateur problem solvers, among them Lewis Carroll, an astronomer, a botanist, an obsessive golfer, the Bishop of London, a man who set his watch only once a year, a California traffic cop, and a bridegroom who spent his honeymoon coloring maps. In their pursuit of the solution, mathematicians painted maps on doughnuts and horseshoes and played with patterned soccer balls and the great rhombicuboctahedron. It would be more than one hundred years (and countless colored maps) later before the result was finally established. Even then, difficult questions remained, and the intricate solution--which involved no fewer than 1,200 hours of computer time--was greeted with as much dismay as enthusiasm. Providing a clear and elegant explanation of the problem and the proof, Robin Wilson tells how a seemingly innocuous question baffled great minds and stimulated exciting mathematics with far-flung applications. This is the entertaining story of those who failed to prove, and those who ultimately did prove, that four colors do indeed suffice to color any map.

Neighbours and Successors of Rome

Neighbours and Successors of Rome
Author: Daniel Keller
Publisher: Oxbow Books
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2014-05-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1782973982

Presented through 20 case studies covering Europe and the Near East, Neighbours and Successors of Rome investigates development in the production of glass and the mechanisms of the wider glass economy as part of a wider material culture in Europe and the Near East around the later first millennium AD. Though highlighting and solidifying chronology, patterns of distribution, and typology, the primary aims of the collection are to present a new methodology that emphasises regional workshops, scientific data, and the wider trade culture. This methodology embraces a shift in conceptual approach to the study of glass by explaining typological change through the existence of a thriving supra-national commercial network that responded to market demands and combines the results of a range of new scientific techniques into a framework that stresses co-dependence and similarities between the various sites considered. Such an approach, particularly within Byzantine and Early Islamic glass production, is a pioneering concept that contextualises individual sites within the wider region. By twinning a critique of archaeometric methods with the latest archaeological research, the contributors present a foundation for glass research, seen through the lens of consumption demands and geographical necessity, that analyses production centres and traditional typological knowledge. In so doing the they bridge an important divide by demonstrating the co-habitability of diverse approaches and disciplines, linking, for example, the production of Campanulate bowls from Gallaecia with the burgeoning international late antique style. Equally, the particular details of those pieces allow us to identify a regional style as well as local production. As such this compilation provides a highly valuable resource for archaeologists, anthropologists, and art historians.

Intelligent Computing

Intelligent Computing
Author: Kohei Arai
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 1492
Release: 2023-08-19
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 3031379632

This book is a collection of extremely well-articulated, insightful and unique state-ofthe-art papers presented at the Computing Conference which took place in London on June 22–23, 2023. A total of 539 papers were received out of which 193 were selected for presenting after double-blind peer-review. The book covers a wide range of scientific topics including IoT, Artificial Intelligence, Computing, Data Science, Networking, Data security and Privacy, etc. The conference was successful in reaping the advantages of both online and offline modes. The goal of this conference is to give a platform to researchers with fundamental contributions and to be a premier venue for academic and industry practitioners to share new ideas and development experiences. We hope that readers find this book interesting and valuable. We also expect that the conference and its publications will be a trigger for further related research and technology improvements in this important subject.

A Collection of Contributions in Honour of Jack van Lint

A Collection of Contributions in Honour of Jack van Lint
Author: P.J. Cameron
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 515
Release: 2016-06-06
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1483294196

This collection of contributions is offered to Jack van Lint on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday and appears simultaneously in the series Topics in Discrete Mathematics and as a special double volume of Discrete Mathematics (Volumes 106/107). It is hoped that the papers selected, all written by experts in their own fields, represent the many interesting areas that together constitute the discipline of Discrete Mathematics. It is in this sphere that van Lint has become the acknowledged master and this expansive volume serves to demonstrate the enormous significance he has had on the development of Discrete Mathematics during the last 30 years.

Small Universal Cellular Automata in Hyperbolic Spaces

Small Universal Cellular Automata in Hyperbolic Spaces
Author: Maurice Margenstern
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2013-03-14
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 3642366635

Hyperbolic geometry is an essential part of theoretical astrophysics and cosmology. Besides specialists of these domains, many specialists of new domains start to show a growing interest both to hyperbolic geometry and to cellular automata. This is especially the case in biology and computer science. This book gives the reader a deep and efficient introduction to an algorithmic approach to hyperbolic geometry. It focuses the attention on the possibilities to obtain in this frame the power of computing everything a computer can compute, that is to say: universality. The minimal ways to get universality are investigated in a large family of tilings of the hyperbolic plane. In several cases the best results are obtained.In all cases, the results are close to the theoretical best values. This gives rise to fantastic illustrations: the results are jewels in all meanings of the word. ------------------------ Maurice MARGENSTERN is professor emeritus at the University of Lorraine, he is a member of LITA, the research unit of computer science in the campus of Metz of this university. Professor Margenstern is amongst top world experts in theory of computation, mathematical machines and geometry. He is a pioneer in cellular automata in hyperbolic spaces.

Coveting the Neighbour's Wife

Coveting the Neighbour's Wife
Author: Krish Day
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2021-08-17
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1800465866

Krish Day’s latest novel brings together the more significant strands of human sentiment and experience, twining them in a narrative colourful and compelling

Imperial China and Its Southern Neighbours

Imperial China and Its Southern Neighbours
Author: Victor H Mair
Publisher: Flipside Digital Content Company Inc.
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2016-04-29
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9814620556

At a time when China-Southeast Asia relationships are undergoing profound changes, it is pleasing to have a volume which examines the interactions between China and the polities and societies to the south through time. With multiple aims of exploring the relations between northern Chinese cultures and those of the south, examining the cultural plurality of areas which are today parts of Southern China, and illuminating the relations between Sinitic and non-Sinitic societies, the volume is broad in concept and content. Within these extensive rubrics, this edited collection further interrogates the nature of Asian polities and their historiography, the constitution of Chineseness, imperial China's southern expansions, cultural hybridity, economic relations, regional systems and ethnic interactions across East Asia. The editors Victor H. Mair and Liam C. Kelley are to be congratulated for bringing together such a wealth of contributions offering nascent interpretations and broad overviews, set within the overarching historical and contemporary contexts provided through Wang Gungwu's introduction.- Dr Geoffrey Wade, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University