This is a new trove of entrancing numbers and delightful mathematical nibbles for adventurous minds. Ian Stewart, author of the bestselling "Professor Stewart's Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities", presents a new and magical mix of games, puzzles, paradoxes, brainteasers, and riddles. He mingles these with forays into ancient and modern mathematical thought, appallingly hilarious mathematical jokes, and inquiries into the great mathematical challenges of the present and past. Amongst a host of arcane and astonishing facts about every kind of number from irrational or imaginary to complex or cuneiform, we find out: how to organize chaos; how matter balances anti-matter; how to turn a sphere inside out (without creasing it...); why you can't comb a hairy ball; and, how to calculate pi by observing the stars. And we get some tantalizing glimpses of the maths of life and the universe. Mind-stretching, enlightening and endlessly amusing, Professor Stewart's new entertainment will stimulate, delight, and enthrall.
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About the Author
Professor Ian Stewart is the author of many popular science books. He is the mathematics consultant for the New Scientist and a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick. He was awarded the Michael Faraday Medal for furthering the public understanding of science, and in 2001 became a Fellow of the Royal Society.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A truly eclectic mix, including some rather advanced topics
May 16 2011
By P. Mann
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Ian Stewart has amassed an extremely diverse collection here, with topics ranging from bad jokes ("Q: What's a polar bear? A: A Cartesian bear after a change of coordinates.") to biographical snippets (especially about forgetful mathematicians, like the one who failed to recognize his own daughter) to math-based puzzles to discussions of advanced topics like topology and some advanced number theory.
For the high school student, much of the material in the book will probably be hard going, but the great thing about the book is that it is so full of fascinating problems and diversions that it is necessary only to turn a page or two to get to something more congenial to the reader. For the more advanced college math major, there is much here to educate and delight.
To give but a single example of the mathematical puzzles the book deals with, I will refer to Professor Stewart's treatment of the sequence "1, 11, 21, 1211, 111221, . . ." In this sequence each term after the first is constructed by "reading" the previous term. Thus, the fourth term reads "one 1, one 2, two 1s" and thus generates the fifth term. At first glance, there seems to be little mathematical about this sequence. It's more of a cute brain teaser that really has little to do with math. But what if we asked how many digits the nth term has? Professor Stewart presents that response and an approximation. (In this case, he does not explain the derivation of the approximation, but the point is that he does go well beyond the standard treatment of the sequence.)
Highly recommended.
For the high school student, much of the material in the book will probably be hard going, but the great thing about the book is that it is so full of fascinating problems and diversions that it is necessary only to turn a page or two to get to something more congenial to the reader. For the more advanced college math major, there is much here to educate and delight.
To give but a single example of the mathematical puzzles the book deals with, I will refer to Professor Stewart's treatment of the sequence "1, 11, 21, 1211, 111221, . . ." In this sequence each term after the first is constructed by "reading" the previous term. Thus, the fourth term reads "one 1, one 2, two 1s" and thus generates the fifth term. At first glance, there seems to be little mathematical about this sequence. It's more of a cute brain teaser that really has little to do with math. But what if we asked how many digits the nth term has? Professor Stewart presents that response and an approximation. (In this case, he does not explain the derivation of the approximation, but the point is that he does go well beyond the standard treatment of the sequence.)
Highly recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exactly What I Was Looking For
Sep 25 2012
By CBranson
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am a Jr. High math teacher and this book has come in handy NUMEROUS times. I'm sure like every other classroom, I have some students that are very low when it comes to math and I have some students that challenge me everyday with questions! This book is full of obscure math problems and "tid-bits" that appeal and will catch the interest of any math student (and teacher). Well worth the purchase!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
What good fun!
Sep 10 2012
By T. Ervin
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The book was just what I wanted and expected. Good solid puzzles and articles that have certainly challenged by 70-year-old brain. No I did not "get" them all, some are a bit beyond me, so far, and I shall go through the book again, I hope. This is not just arithmetic, not just numerological curiosities; it has taken me into some mathy areas I didn't get in high school. Yeay.
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