Mathematics offers new and sometimes startling perspectives on evolution and how patterns of inheritance and population work out over time-scales ranging from millions to hundreds of years. Stewart explores these and a whole range of pertinent issues.

A treasure trove of mathematical oddities, including games, puzzles, facts, numbers and delightful mathematical nibbles for the curious and adventurous mind.

Ian Stewart presents a mix of games, puzzles, paradoxes, brainteasers and riddles. He mingles these with forays into ancient and modern mathematical thought, mathematical jokes and enquiries into the great mathematical challenges of the present and past.

Examines seventeen groundbreaking equations that have altered the course of human history. This book explores how Pythagoras' Theorem led to GPS and SatNav; how logarithms are applied in architecture; why imaginary numbers were important in the development of the digital camera, and what is really going on with Schrodinger's cat.

From ancient Babylon to the last great unsolved problems, an acclaimedmathematician and popularscience writerbrings us his witty, engaging, anddefinitive history of mathematicsIn his famous straightforward style, Ian Stewart explains each major developmentfrom the first number systems to chaos theoryand considers how each affected society and changed everyday life forever. Maintaining a personal touch, he introduces all of the outstanding mathematicians of history, from the key Babylonians, Greeks, and Egyptians, via Newton and Descartes, to Fermat, Babbage, and Godel, and demystifies math's...

It is only in recent times that infinite-dimensional Lie algebras have been the subject of other than sporadic study, with perhaps two exceptions: Cartan's simple algebras of infinite type, and free algebras. However, the last decade has seen a considerable increase of interest in the subject, along two fronts: the topological and the algebraic. The former, which deals largely with algebras of operators on linear spaces, or on manifolds modelled on linear spaces, has been dealt with elsewhere*). The latter, which is the subject of the present volume, exploits the surprising depth of analogy...

There are some mathematical problems whose significance goes beyond the ordinary - like Fermat's Last Theorem or Goldbach's Conjecture - they are the enigmas which define mathematics. This book explains why these problems exist, why they matter, what drives mathematicians to incredible lengths to solve them and where they stand in the context of mathematics and science as a whole.

Like its wildly popular predecessors 'Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities' and 'Hoard of Mathematical Treasures', this book is a miscellany of over 150 mathematical curios and conundrums, packed with trademark humour and numerous illustrations.