Math Mutation Classics: Exploring Interesting, Fun and Weird Corners of Mathematics

ISBN-13: 9781484218914 / Angielski / Miękka / 2016 / 213 str.

Erik Seligman

Opis

Use math in unique ways to analyze things you observe in life and use proof to attain the unexpected. There is quite a wide diversity of topics here and so all age levels and ability levels will enjoy the discussions. You'll see how the author's unique viewpoint puts a mathematical spin on everything from politicians to hippos. Along the way, you will enjoy the different point of view and hopefully it will open you up to a slightly more out-of-the-box way of thinking.
Did you know that sometimes 2+2 equals 5? That wheels don't always have to be round? That you can mathematically prove there is a hippopotamus in your basement? Or how to spot four-dimensional beings as they pass through your kitchen? If not, then you need to read this book Math Mutation Classics is a collection of Erik Seligman's blog articles from Math Mutation at MathMutation.com. Erik has been creating podcasts and converting them in his blog for many years. Now, he has collected what he believes to be the most interesting among them, and has edited and organized them into a book that is often thought provoking, challenging, and fun.
What You Will Learn

• View the world and problems in different ways through math.
  
• Apply mathematics to things you thought unimaginable.
  
• Abstract things that are not taught in school.
  

Who this Book is For
Teenagers, college level students, and adults who can gain from the many different ways of looking at problems and feed their interest in mathematics.

Recenzje

"The book should be accessible to all reasonably numerate people, and provide pleasant browsing even for the expert. Readers who enjoyed Martin Gardner's classic Mathematical games columns will probably enjoy this book; it should definitely be in junior high school, high school, public and university libraries." (Robert Dawson, zbMATH 1446.00005, 2020)

"Seligman has written a mathematical book to be enjoyed by a wide audience. ... If you are high school teacher and want to motivate your students ... this text is for you. If you are a college teacher and want to spruce up your lectures with interesting ... mathematical facts, this book is for you. Or, if you are a student and want to expand your knowledge of interesting applications of mathematics, then this book is also for you." (Computing Reviews, June, 2017)

"Seligman looks beyond the strict boundaries of mathematics, but his topics are very well chosen and he looks at them unable to deny his mathematics and computer science roots. The leitmotifs of the chapters include geometry, infinity, dimensions, skepticism, arts, politics, finance, paradoxes, the mind, life, and some others. Thus the variety is very diverse. ... I think this is a wonderful collection of columns that will be appealing to any reader. ... The whole collection it warmly recommended." (Adhemar Bultheel, European Mathematical Society, euro-math-soc.eu, May, 2016)

Spis treści

I.  Numbers that Fool You

    1.  When does 2+2=5?

    2.  The Gullible Ratio:   Why The Golden Ratio Isn't So Golden

    3.  How Many Infinities Are There?

    4.  Dollo's Law:  Read This Before Committing Accounting Fraud

    5.  Stupid Number Tricks

    6.  Improbable Probabilities   

II.  Turning Geometry Upside Down

    1.   Squash Those Dice:  Why a 7-Sided Die is Impossible, and Why It Isn't

    2.  Finite Shapes That Can't Be Painted

    3.   Wheels That Aren't Round

    4.  Will The Real 4th Dimension Please Stand Up?

    5.  Your Five-Dimensional Kitchen

    6.  11-Dimensional Spaghetti Monsters

III.  The Mathematical Mind

    1.  Synesthesia:  Do Numbers Have Colors?

    2.  The Rain Man's Secret

    3.  Does Perspective Really Exist, or Do We Imagine It?

    4.  Why Statisticians Stink at Statistics

    5.  Psychochonometry:  Watching Your Life Accelerate

IV.   Math and Your Favorite Historical Figure

    1.  Charles Dickens and the Folly of Tally Sticks

    2.  Candide's Calculus

    3.  Unlistenable Mathematical Fun from Mozart and John Cage

    4.  Florence Nightingale, Math Geek

    5.  You Can't Fool Bill Gates

V.  Politically Mathematical

    1.  Thomas Jefferson and America's Founding Theorem

    2.  The Real Solution to Close Elections

    3. James Garfield, Abe Lincoln, and Presidential Math

    4.  How Polish Math Saved Europe

    5.  "That's How We Do It In Government"

    6.  Modifying Pi & The Round Road to Damnation

VI.  Strange Mathematical Corners of the Universe

    1.  An Evolutionary Voyage into Animalspace

    2.  Observing The Universe, Light Years Beyond Our Sight

    3. A New Numerology:   Why Psychics Should Visit the Genetics Lab

    4.  Putting The Multiverse To Work with Quantum Computing

    5. Too Much Math for Scientists?

VII.  Truth, Falsehood, and The Nature of Reality

    1.  Sacrificing a Goat to Calculus

    2.  Grue and Bleen:  Why Your Lawn Will Change Color Next Week

    3.  Is There A Hippo In Your Basement?

    4.  The Mathematical Nuclear Bomb

    5.  A Twisted Take on Turing

    6.  You Are a Computer Simulation

    7.  Why (At Least) One Chapter of this Book Is Wrong

    8.  Mathematical Proof of Immortality

O autorze

Erik Seligman is a Formal Verification Architect at Intel Corporation, where he has been an engineer for over two decades. Erik has hosted the Math Mutation podcast since 2007. He was recently lead author of the well-received technical book, Formal Verification: An Essential Toolkit for Modern VLSI Design (Morgan Kaufmann, 2015). He earned a M.S. in computer science from Carnegie Mellon and a B.A. in mathematics at Princeton. He also has served since 2013 as an elected director on the board of the Hillsboro School District, the 4th largest K-12 school district in Oregon.