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Professor Stewart's Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities
Ian Stewart · back to the book
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24 books with the same feel
Include books by the same authorThe Number Mysteries
Marcus du Sautoy · 284 pages
Every time we download music, take a flight across the Atlantic or talk on our cell phones, we are relying on great mathematical inventions. In The Number Mysteries, one of our generations foremost mathematicians Marcus du Sautoy offers a playful and accessible examination of numbers and how, despite efforts of the greatest minds, the most fundamental puzzles of nature remain unsolved. Du Sautoy t
The Colossal Book of Mathematics
Martin Gardner · 724 pages
The author presents a selection of pieces from his Scientific American "Mathematical Games" column, presenting puzzles and concepts that range from arithmetic and geometrical games to the meaning of M.C. Escher's artwork.
What Is the Name of This Book?: The Riddle of Dracula and Other Logical Puzzles
Raymond M. Smullyan · 241 pages
"In his most critically acclaimed work, a well-known mathematician, magician, and author spins a logical labyrinth of more than 200 increasingly complex and challenging problems - puzzles that delve into some of the deepest paradoxes of logic and set theory. Solutions."The most original, most profound, and most humorous collection of recreational logic and math problems ever written." - Martin Gar
Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern
Douglas R. Hofstadter · 852 pages
Toen 'Godel, Escher, Bach' verscheen in 1979 was Hofstadter in een klap wereldberoemd. Het is maar weinigen gegeven zo met taal en kennis te spelen: briljant, erudiet, creatief, humoristisch, en didaktisch van zeer hoog niveau. Dezelfde kwaliteiten bepalen het gezicht van 'Metamagische thema's'. Het is een bundeling van artikelen die in de jaren 1981-1983 in de Scientific American verschenen en di
The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography
Simon Singh · 402 pages
In his first book since the bestselling *Fermat's Enigma*, Simon Singh offers the first sweeping history of encryption, tracing its evolution and revealing the dramatic effects codes have had on wars, nations, and individual lives. From Mary, Queen of Scots, trapped by her own code, to the Navajo Code Talkers who helped the Allies win World War II, to the incredible (and incredibly simple) logisit
How to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method
George Polya · 253 pages
A perennial bestseller by eminent mathematician G. Polya, How to Solve It will show anyone in any field how to think straight. In lucid and appealing prose, Polya reveals how the mathematical method of demonstrating a proof or finding an unknown can be of help in attacking any problem that can be “reasoned” out—from building a bridge to winning a game of anagrams. Generations of readers have relis
Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data
Charles Wheelan · 304 pages
The field of statistics is rapidly transforming into a discipline that Hal Varian at Google has called "sexy". And with good reason; from batting averages and political polls to game shows and medical research, the real-world application of statistics is growing by leaps and bounds. In this book the author demystifies the study of statistics by stripping away the arcane and technical details to ge
How to Lie with Statistics
Darrell Huff · 142 pages
Darrell Huff runs the gamut of every popularly used type of statistic, probes such things as the sample study, the tabulation method, the interview technique, or the way the results are derived from the figures, and points up the countless number of dodges which are used to fool rather than inform.
Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension
Matt Parker · 467 pages
A mathematician and comedian offers games, puzzles, and hands-on activities to help those with a fear of math understand and enjoy the logical tools and abstract concepts of the subject normally only accessible at college-level study. "Math is boring, says the mathematician and comedian Matt Parker. Part of the problem may be the way the subject is taught, but it's also true that we all, to a g
Alex Through the Looking Glass: How Life Reflects Numbers and Numbers Reflect Life
Alex Bellos · 338 pages
From triangles, rotations and power laws, to fractals, cones and curves, Bellos takes readers on a journey of mathematical discovery. As he narrates a series of eye-opening encounters with lively personalities all over the world, Alex demonstrates how numbers have come to be our friends, how fascinating and extremely accessible they are, and how they have changed our world.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Mark Haddon · 240 pages
This is Christopher's murder mystery story. There are no lies in this story because Christopher can't tell lies. Christopher does not like strangers or the colours yellow or brown or being touched. On the other hand, he knows all the countries in the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7507. When Christohper decides to find out who killed the neighbour's dog, his mystery st
The Calculus Diaries: How Math Can Help You Lose Weight, Win in Vegas, and Survive a Zombie Apocalypse
Jennifer Ouellette · 318 pages
A mathphobe explores calculus by starting at the quotidian (more or less) and working to the underlying principles described by calculus.
The Joy of x: A Guided Tour of Math, from One to Infinity
Steven H. Strogatz · 336 pages
Many people take math in high school and promptly forget much of it. But math plays a part in all of our lives all of the time, whether we know it or not. In The Joy of x, Steven Strogatz expands on his hit New York Times series to explain the big ideas of math gently and clearly, with wit, insight, and brilliant illustrations. Whether he is illuminating how often you should flip your mattress
Digital Fortress
Dan Brown · 431 pages
When the NSA’s most classified technological wonder–an invincible code-breaking machine–encounters a mysterious code it cannot break, the agency calls in its head cryptographer, Susan Fletcher, a brilliant and beautiful mathematician. What she uncovers sends shock waves through the corridors of power. The NSA is being held hostage… not by guns or bombs, but by a code so ingeniously complex that
A History of Mathematics
Carl B. Boyer, Uta C. Merzbach · 717 pages
Develops world contributions to mathematics, from the inception of numbers and geometry to modern probability and Bourbaki's mathematics.
Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity
David Foster Wallace · 340 pages
*"A gripping guide to the modern taming of the infinite."*—The New York Times. With a new introduction by Neal Stephenson. Is infinity a valid mathematical property or a meaningless abstraction? David Foster Wallace brings his intellectual ambition and characteristic bravura style to the story of how mathematicians have struggled to understand the infinite, from the ancient Greeks to the ninete
The Fractal Geometry of Nature
Benoit B. Mandelbrot · 468 pages
The Magic Mirror of M.C. Escher
Bruno Ernst, M.C. Escher · 112 pages
Mathematician Bruno Ernst examines the oeuvre of twentieth-century Dutch artist M. C. Escher, as well as the artist's life and his inspirations and techniques.
The Phantom Tollbooth
Norton Juster · 256 pages
It has been fifty years—and millions of readers—since the world was first introduced to Milo and his adventures in the Lands Beyond with Tock, the Humbug, and the captive princesses Rhyme and Reason. Now we have a remarkable 50th anniversary edition to honor this universally adored and deeply influential novel. This special edition will include: • Gorgeous packaging that features the classic
What Is Mathematics?: An Elementary Approach to Ideas and Methods
Richard Courant, Ian Stewart · 521 pages
Incompleteness: The Proof and Paradox of Kurt Gödel
Rebecca Goldstein · 260 pages
"An introduction to the life and thought of Kurt Gödel, who transformed our conception of math forever" -- Provided by publisher.
Finding Zero: A Mathematician's Odyssey to Uncover the Origins of Numbers
Amir D. Aczel · 256 pages
"The invention of numerals is perhaps the greatest abstraction the human mind has ever created. Virtually everything in our lives is digital, numerical, or quantified. The story of how and where we got these numerals, which we so depend on, has for thousands of years been shrouded in mystery. Finding Zero is an adventure filled saga of Amir Aczel's lifelong obsession: to find the original sources