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Mathematicians have pondered the psychology of the members of our tribe probably since mathematics was invented, but for certain since Hadamard’s The Psychology of Invention in the Mathematical Field. The editors asked two dozen prominent mathematicians (and one spouse thereof) to ruminate on what makes us different. The answers they got are thoughtful, interesting and thought-provoking. Not all respondents addressed the question directly. Michael Atiyah reflects on the tension between truth and beauty in mathematics. T.W. Körner, Alan Schoenfeld and Hyman Bass chose to write, reflectively and thoughtfully, about teaching and learning. Others, including Ian Stewart and Jane Hawkins, write about the sociology of our community. Many of the contributions range into philosophy of mathematics and the nature of our thought processes. Any mathematician will find much of interest here.
Recipient of the Mathematical Association of America's Beckenbach Book Prize in 2015! Lobachevski Illuminated provides an historical introduction to non-Euclidean geometry. Within its pages, readers will be guided step-by-step through a new translation of Lobachevski's groundbreaking book, The Theory of Parallels. Extensive commentary situates Lobachevski's work in its mathematical, historical, and philosophical context, thus granting readers a vision of the mysterious and beautiful world of non-Euclidean geometry as seen through the eyes of one of its discoverers. Although Lobachevski's 170-year-old text is challenging to read on its own, Seth Braver's carefully arranged “illuminations” render this classic accessible to any modern reader (student, professional, or layman) undaunted by high school mathematics.
Illustrated book showing that there are few degrees of separation between mathematics and topics that provoke interesting conversations.
A memoir that describes the groundbreaking life and career of blind mathematician Larry Baggett, interspersed with musings on mathematics.
The story of how calculus came to be, accessible to anyone with a basic knowledge of geometry and algebra.
An inspiring collection of a historian's work on the history of mathematics.
Sophie Germain overcame gender stigmas and a lack of formal education to prove that for all prime exponents less than 100 Case I of Fermat's Last Theorem holds. Hidden behind a man's name, her brilliance as mathematician was first discovered by three of the greatest scholars of the eighteenth century, Lagrange, Gauss, and Legendre. In Sophie's Diary, Germain comes to life through a fictionalized journal that intertwines mathematics with historical descriptions of the brutal events that took place in Paris between 1789 and 1793. This format provides a plausible perspective of how a young Sophie could have learned mathematics on her own—both fascinated by numbers and eager to master tough subjects without a teacher's guidance. Her passion for mathematics is integrated into her personal life as an escape from societal outrage. Sophie's Diary is suitable for a variety of readers—both young and old, mathematicians and novices—who will be inspired and enlightened on a field of study made easy, as told through the intellectual and personal struggles of an exceptional young woman.
Sixteen original essays exploring recent developments in the philosophy of mathematics, written in a way mathematicians will understand.
Half a Century of Pythagoras Magazine is a selection of the best and most inspiring articles from this Dutch magazine for recreational mathematics. Founded in 1961 and still thriving today, Pythagoras has given generations of high school students in the Netherlands a perspective on the many branches of mathematics that are not taught in schools. The book contains a mix of easy, yet original puzzles, more challenging - and at least as original – problems, as well as playful introductions to a plethora of subjects in algebra, geometry, topology, number theory and more. Concepts like the sudoku and the magic square are given a whole new dimension. One of the first editors was a personal frien...
Certain constants occupy precise balancing points in the cosmos of number, like habitable planets sprinkled throughout our galaxy at just the right distances from their suns. This book introduces and connects four of these constants (φ,Π,e, and i), each of which has recently been the individual subject of historical and mathematical expositions. But here we discuss their properties, as a group, at a level appropriate for an audience armed only with the tools of elementary calculus. This material offers an excellent excuse to display the power of calculus to reveal elegant truths that are not often seen in college classes. These truths are described here via the work of such luminaries as Nilakantha, Liu Hui, Hemachandra, Khayyam, Newton, Wallis, and Euler.