Did you grow up thinking math is boring? It's time to reconsider. This book will teach you everything you ever wondered about numbers--and more. How and why did human beings first start using numbers at the dawn of history? Would numbers exist if we Homo sapiens weren't around to discover them? What's so special about weird numbers like pi and the ......
A treasure for anyone interested in early modern India and the history of mathematics, this first English translation of the Siddhantasundara reveals the fascinating work of the scholar-astronomer Jñanaraja (circa 1500 C.E.). Toke Lindegaard Knudsen begins with an introduction to the traditions of ancient Hindu astronomy and describes what is ......
The Remarkable Role of Evolution in the Making of Mathematics
In this accessible and illuminating study of how the science of mathematics developed, a veteran math researcher and educator looks at the ways in which our evolutionary makeup is both a help and a hindrance to the study of math. Artstein chronicles the discovery of important mathematical connections between mathematics and the real world from ......
A Comprehensive Dictionary of Latin, Greek, and Arabic Roots
Do you ever wonder about the origins of mathematical terms such as ergodic, biholomorphic, and strophoid? Here Anthony Lo Bello explains the roots of these and better-known words like asymmetric, gradient, and average. He provides Greek, Latin, and Arabic text in its original form to enhance each explanation. This sophisticated, one-of-a-kind ......
Requiring no more than high-school-level math competency, this playful excursion through the nuances of math will give you a better grasp of this fundamental, all-important science. Veteran math educators demonstrate how some ""magnificent mistakes"" had profound consequences for our understanding of mathematics' key concepts. In the nineteenth ......
Everyone knows what a triangle is, yet very few people appreciate that the common three-sided figure holds many intriguing "secrets." Requiring no more than a basic understanding of mathematics, this book reveals various geometrical properties, and gives readers insight into different aspects of geometry.
We measure historyits defining moments, landmark documents, and great figuresby dates. The French Revolution began in 1789, the Magna Carta was originally issued in 1215, and Julius Caesar died in the year 44 BC. What makes these dates correct, though? Is it possible that there is a massive gap in the historical record and that the calendar ......
A beautiful piece of mathematics, Noether's Theorem touches on every aspect of physics. Emmy Noether proved her theorem in 1915 and published it in 1918. This profound concept demonstrates the connection between conservation laws and symmetries. For instance, the theorem shows that a system invariant under translations of time, space, or rotation ......
A beautiful piece of mathematics, Noether's Theorem touches on every aspect of physics. Emmy Noether proved her theorem in 1915 and published it in 1918. This profound concept demonstrates the connection between conservation laws and symmetries. For instance, the theorem shows that a system invariant under translations of time, space, or rotation ......
