The Mathematics Of Great Amateurs

The Mathematics Of Great Amateurs
Author: Julian Lowell Coolidge
Publisher: Legare Street Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022-10-27
Genre:
ISBN: 9781015802223

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The Enjoyment of Mathematics

The Enjoyment of Mathematics
Author: Hans Rademacher
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 228
Release: 1990-01-01
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 9780486262420

Requiring only a basic background in plane geometry and elementary algebra, this classic poses 28 problems that introduce the fundamental ideas that make mathematics truly exciting. "Excellent . . . a thoroughly enjoyable sampler of fascinating mathematical problems and their solutions"—Science Magazine.

The Mathematical Career of Pierre de Fermat, 1601-1665

The Mathematical Career of Pierre de Fermat, 1601-1665
Author: Michael Sean Mahoney
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 455
Release: 2018-06-05
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0691187630

Hailed as one of the greatest mathematical results of the twentieth century, the recent proof of Fermat's Last Theorem by Andrew Wiles brought to public attention the enigmatic problem-solver Pierre de Fermat, who centuries ago stated his famous conjecture in a margin of a book, writing that he did not have enough room to show his "truly marvelous demonstration." Along with formulating this proposition--xn+yn=zn has no rational solution for n > 2--Fermat, an inventor of analytic geometry, also laid the foundations of differential and integral calculus, established, together with Pascal, the conceptual guidelines of the theory of probability, and created modern number theory. In one of the first full-length investigations of Fermat's life and work, Michael Sean Mahoney provides rare insight into the mathematical genius of a hobbyist who never sought to publish his work, yet who ranked with his contemporaries Pascal and Descartes in shaping the course of modern mathematics.

Two Millennia of Mathematics

Two Millennia of Mathematics
Author: George M. Phillips
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1461211808

A collection of inter-connected topics in areas of mathematics which particularly interest the author, ranging over the two millennia from the work of Archimedes to the "Werke" of Gauss. The book is intended for those who love mathematics, including undergraduate students of mathematics, more experienced students and the vast unseen host of amateur mathematicians. It is equally a useful source of material for those who teach mathematics.

Quantum Field Theory for the Gifted Amateur

Quantum Field Theory for the Gifted Amateur
Author: Tom Lancaster
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 505
Release: 2014-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0199699321

Quantum field theory provides the theoretical backbone to most modern physics. This book is designed to bring quantum field theory to a wider audience of physicists. It is packed with worked examples, witty diagrams, and applications intended to introduce a new audience to this revolutionary theory.

The Best Writing on Mathematics 2010

The Best Writing on Mathematics 2010
Author: Mircea Pitici
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 435
Release: 2021-09-14
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1400836123

The year’s most memorable writing on mathematics This anthology brings together the year's finest writing on mathematics from around the world. Featuring promising new voices alongside some of the foremost names in mathematics, The Best Writing on Mathematics makes available to a wide audience many articles not easily found anywhere else—and you don't need to be a mathematician to enjoy them. These writings offer surprising insights into the nature, meaning, and practice of mathematics today. They delve into the history, philosophy, teaching, and everyday occurrences of math, and take readers behind the scenes of today's hottest mathematical debates. Here readers will discover why Freeman Dyson thinks some mathematicians are birds while others are frogs; why Keith Devlin believes there's more to mathematics than proof; what Nick Paumgarten has to say about the timing patterns of New York City's traffic lights (and why jaywalking is the most mathematically efficient way to cross Sixty-sixth Street); what Samuel Arbesman can tell us about the epidemiology of the undead in zombie flicks; and much, much more. In addition to presenting the year's most memorable writing on mathematics, this must-have anthology also includes a foreword by esteemed mathematician William Thurston and an informative introduction by Mircea Pitici. This book belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in where math has taken us—and where it's headed.

The Knot Book

The Knot Book
Author: Colin Conrad Adams
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
Total Pages: 330
Release: 2004
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0821836781

Knots are familiar objects. Yet the mathematical theory of knots quickly leads to deep results in topology and geometry. This work offers an introduction to this theory, starting with our understanding of knots. It presents the applications of knot theory to modern chemistry, biology and physics.

The Mathematical Experience, Study Edition

The Mathematical Experience, Study Edition
Author: Philip Davis
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 522
Release: 2011-10-27
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0817682945

Winner of the 1983 National Book Award! "...a perfectly marvelous book about the Queen of Sciences, from which one will get a real feeling for what mathematicians do and who they are. The exposition is clear and full of wit and humor..." - The New Yorker (1983 National Book Award edition) Mathematics has been a human activity for thousands of years. Yet only a few people from the vast population of users are professional mathematicians, who create, teach, foster, and apply it in a variety of situations. The authors of this book believe that it should be possible for these professional mathematicians to explain to non-professionals what they do, what they say they are doing, and why the world should support them at it. They also believe that mathematics should be taught to non-mathematics majors in such a way as to instill an appreciation of the power and beauty of mathematics. Many people from around the world have told the authors that they have done precisely that with the first edition and they have encouraged publication of this revised edition complete with exercises for helping students to demonstrate their understanding. This edition of the book should find a new generation of general readers and students who would like to know what mathematics is all about. It will prove invaluable as a course text for a general mathematics appreciation course, one in which the student can combine an appreciation for the esthetics with some satisfying and revealing applications. The text is ideal for 1) a GE course for Liberal Arts students 2) a Capstone course for perspective teachers 3) a writing course for mathematics teachers. A wealth of customizable online course materials for the book can be obtained from Elena Anne Marchisotto ([email protected]) upon request.

The Mathematical Works of Bernard Bolzano

The Mathematical Works of Bernard Bolzano
Author: Steve Russ
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 742
Release: 2004-12-09
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 9780191513701

Bernard Bolzano (1781-1848, Prague) was a remarkable thinker and reformer far ahead of his time in many areas, including philosophy, theology, ethics, politics, logic, and mathematics. Aimed at historians and philosophers of both mathematics and logic, and research students in those fields, this volume contains English translations, in most cases for the first time, of many of Bolzano's most significant mathematical writings. These are the primary sources for many of his celebrated insights and anticipations, including: clear topological definitions of various geometric extensions; an effective statement and use of the Cauchy convergence criterion before it appears in Cauchy's work; proofs of the binomial theorem and the intermediate value theorem that are more general and rigorous than previous ones; an impressive theory of measurable numbers (a version of real numbers), a theory of functions including the construction of a continuous, non-differentiable function (around 1830); and his tantalising conceptual struggles over the possible relationships between infinite collections. Bolzano identified an objective and semantic connection between truths, his so-called 'ground-consequence' relation that imposed a structure on mathematical theories and reflected careful conceptual analysis. This was part of his highly original philosophy of mathematics that appears to be inseparable from his extraordinarily fruitful practical development of mathematics in ways that remain far from being properly understood, and may still be of relevance today.