- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Oxford University Press; 1 edition (Nov 15 2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0199205906
- ISBN-13: 978-0199205905
- Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 16.1 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 358 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #348,308 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
Welcome back to Ian Stewart's magical world of mathematics! This is a strange world of never-ending chess games, empires on the moon, furious fireflies, and, of course, disputes over how best to cut a cake. Each quirky tale presents a fascinating mathematical puzzle -- challenging, fun, and also introducing the reader to a significant mathematical problem in an engaging and witty way.
From the Publisher
20 specially commissioned B&W cartoons, plus some simple mathematical diagrams
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
A big man and a small man were sitting in the restaurant car of a train, and both ordered fish. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
A big man and a small man were sitting in the restaurant car of a train, and both ordered fish. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
How To Cut A Cake, Dec 31 2008
By Sheryl L. Battin - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: How to Cut a Cake: And other mathematical conundrums (Paperback)
From 1987 until 2001, Ian Stewart wrote columns for Scientific American magazine and its foreign-language editions. This book is a collection of twenty of those columns including the last one he wrote, Easter is a Quasicrystal.I suppose there is no way getting around the comparisons with Martin Gardner who originated the column. Be aware that they are two, very different writers but both share the goal of presenting how interesting math can be. From both you get the idea that math doesn't have to be a dry, dull subject.
There are two chapters that the book's title refer to, 'Your Half's Bigger than My Half' and 'Division without Envy'. We all know how to divide something between two people. One cuts the cake in two and the other gets first choice of the pieces. But what happens when you have more than two people? Is there a way of dividing so everyone feels they have received their fair share?
Many recreational subjects are covered such as paradoxes, moves on a chess board, map coloring and Sierpinski's Gasket. The author often takes these into real world applications. In the chapter 'Why Phone Cords Get tangled', Stewart mentions that DNA is also a helix, a double helix no less, and has some of the same things happening.
Stewart is good at showing the reader around, poking here and there and finding out what subjects there are. If something seems especially interesting, further readings are suggested. His style is assessable and humorous and provides a fun read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting, but too easy for those who really want some serious mathematical challenge, Sep 21 2010
By Zizhuo Wang - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: How to Cut a Cake: And other mathematical conundrums (Paperback)
This book contains some mathematical puzzles. It would be fun reading for some people. But for those serious mathematical geek, this book might be too easy and not that fun.
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