Group Theory In The Bedroom And Other Mathematical Diversions

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Group Theory in the Bedroom, and Other Mathematical Diversions

Author : Brian Hayes
Publisher : Macmillan + ORM
Page : 284 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2008-04-01
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781429938570

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Group Theory in the Bedroom, and Other Mathematical Diversions by Brian Hayes Pdf

An Award-Winning Essayist Plies His Craft Brian Hayes is one of the most accomplished essayists active today—a claim supported not only by his prolific and continuing high-quality output but also by such honors as the National Magazine Award for his commemorative Y2K essay titled "Clock of Ages," published in the November/December 1999 issue of The Sciences magazine. (The also-rans that year included Tom Wolfe, Verlyn Klinkenborg, and Oliver Sacks.) Hayes's work in this genre has also appeared in such anthologies as The BestAmerican Magazine Writing, The Best American Science and NatureWriting, and The Norton Reader. Here he offers us a selection of his most memorable and accessible pieces—including "Clock of Ages"—embellishing them with an overall, scene-setting preface, reconfigured illustrations, and a refreshingly self-critical "Afterthoughts" section appended to each essay.

When You Were a Tadpole and I Was a Fish

Author : Martin Gardner
Publisher : Hill and Wang
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2009-10-13
Category : Science
ISBN : 1429935545

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When You Were a Tadpole and I Was a Fish by Martin Gardner Pdf

Best known as the longtime writer of the Mathematical Games column for Scientific American—which introduced generations of readers to the joys of recreational mathematics—Martin Gardner has for decades pursued a parallel career as a devastatingly effective debunker of what he once famously dubbed "fads and fallacies in the name of science." It is mainly in this latter role that he is onstage in this collection of choice essays. When You Were a Tadpole and I Was a Fish takes aim at a gallery of amusing targets, ranging from Ann Coulter's qualifications as an evolutionary biologist to the logical fallacies of precognition and extrasensory perception, from Santa Claus to The Wizard of Oz, from mutilated chessboards to the little-known "one-poem poet" Langdon Smith (the original author of this volume's title line). The writings assembled here fall naturally into seven broad categories: Science, Bogus Science, Mathematics, Logic, Literature, Religion and Philosophy, and Politics. Under each heading, Gardner displays an awesome level of erudition combined with a wicked sense of humor.

Group Theory in a Nutshell for Physicists

Author : A. Zee
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 632 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2016-03-29
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781400881185

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Group Theory in a Nutshell for Physicists by A. Zee Pdf

A concise, modern textbook on group theory written especially for physicists Although group theory is a mathematical subject, it is indispensable to many areas of modern theoretical physics, from atomic physics to condensed matter physics, particle physics to string theory. In particular, it is essential for an understanding of the fundamental forces. Yet until now, what has been missing is a modern, accessible, and self-contained textbook on the subject written especially for physicists. Group Theory in a Nutshell for Physicists fills this gap, providing a user-friendly and classroom-tested text that focuses on those aspects of group theory physicists most need to know. From the basic intuitive notion of a group, A. Zee takes readers all the way up to how theories based on gauge groups could unify three of the four fundamental forces. He also includes a concise review of the linear algebra needed for group theory, making the book ideal for self-study. Provides physicists with a modern and accessible introduction to group theory Covers applications to various areas of physics, including field theory, particle physics, relativity, and much more Topics include finite group and character tables; real, pseudoreal, and complex representations; Weyl, Dirac, and Majorana equations; the expanding universe and group theory; grand unification; and much more The essential textbook for students and an invaluable resource for researchers Features a brief, self-contained treatment of linear algebra An online illustration package is available to professors Solutions manual (available only to professors)

Hexaflexagons and Other Mathematical Diversions

Author : Martin Gardner
Publisher : American Mathematical Soc.
Page : 200 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2020-10-05
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9781470463526

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Hexaflexagons and Other Mathematical Diversions by Martin Gardner Pdf

Martin Gardner's Mathematical Games columns in Scientific American inspired and entertained several generations of mathematicians and scientists. Gardner in his crystal-clear prose illuminated corners of mathematics, especially recreational mathematics, that most people had no idea existed. His playful spirit and inquisitive nature invite the reader into an exploration of beautiful mathematical ideas along with him. These columns were both a revelation and a gift when he wrote them; no one--before Gardner--had written about mathematics like this. They continue to be a marvel. This volume, originally published in 1959, contains the first sixteen columns published in the magazine from 1956-1958. They were reviewed and briefly updated by Gardner for this 1988 edition.

Foolproof, and Other Mathematical Meditations

Author : Brian Hayes
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 245 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2018-10-30
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9780262536073

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Foolproof, and Other Mathematical Meditations by Brian Hayes Pdf

A non-mathematician explores mathematical terrain, reporting accessibly and engagingly on topics from Sudoku to probability. Brian Hayes wants to convince us that mathematics is too important and too much fun to be left to the mathematicians. Foolproof, and Other Mathematical Meditations is his entertaining and accessible exploration of mathematical terrain both far-flung and nearby, bringing readers tidings of mathematical topics from Markov chains to Sudoku. Hayes, a non-mathematician, argues that mathematics is not only an essential tool for understanding the world but also a world unto itself, filled with objects and patterns that transcend earthly reality. In a series of essays, Hayes sets off to explore this exotic terrain, and takes the reader with him. Math has a bad reputation: dull, difficult, detached from daily life. As a talking Barbie doll opined, “Math class is tough.” But Hayes makes math seem fun. Whether he's tracing the genealogy of a well-worn anecdote about a famous mathematical prodigy, or speculating about what would happen to a lost ball in the nth dimension, or explaining that there are such things as quasirandom numbers, Hayes wants readers to share his enthusiasm. That's why he imagines a cinematic treatment of the discovery of the Riemann zeta function (“The year: 1972. The scene: Afternoon tea in Fuld Hall at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey”), explains that there is math in Sudoku after all, and describes better-than-average averages. Even when some of these essays involve a hike up the learning curve, the view from the top is worth it.

Duelling Idiots and Other Probability Puzzlers

Author : Paul J. Nahin
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 300 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2012-07-22
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9780691155005

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Duelling Idiots and Other Probability Puzzlers by Paul J. Nahin Pdf

What are your chances of dying on your next flight, being called for jury duty, or winning the lottery? We all encounter probability problems in our everyday lives. In this collection of twenty-one puzzles, Paul Nahin challenges us to think creatively about the laws of probability as they apply in playful, sometimes deceptive, ways to a fascinating array of speculative situations. Games of Russian roulette, problems involving the accumulation of insects on flypaper, and strategies for determining the odds of the underdog winning the World Series all reveal intriguing dimensions to the workings of probability. Over the years, Nahin, a veteran writer and teacher of the subject, has collected these and other favorite puzzles designed to instruct and entertain math enthusiasts of all backgrounds. If idiots A and B alternately take aim at each other with a six-shot revolver containing one bullet, what is the probability idiot A will win? What are the chances it will snow on your birthday in any given year? How can researchers use coin flipping and the laws of probability to obtain honest answers to embarrassing survey questions? The solutions are presented here in detail, and many contain a profound element of surprise. And some puzzles are beautiful illustrations of basic mathematical concepts: "The Blind Spider and the Fly," for example, is a clever variation of a "random walk" problem, and "Duelling Idiots" and "The Underdog and the World Series" are straightforward introductions to binomial distributions. Written in an informal way and containing a plethora of interesting historical material, Duelling Idiots is ideal for those who are fascinated by mathematics and the role it plays in everyday life and in our imaginations.

The Best Writing on Mathematics 2014

Author : Mircea Pitici
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 360 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2014-11-23
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9780691164175

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The Best Writing on Mathematics 2014 by Mircea Pitici Pdf

Collects essays on mathematics, from the importance of big data and the varying forms of Klein bottles to fountain design and the possible shape of the universe.

The Best Writing on Mathematics 2016

Author : Mircea Pitici
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 401 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 2017-03-07
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9780691175294

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The Best Writing on Mathematics 2016 by Mircea Pitici Pdf

The year's finest mathematics writing from around the world This annual anthology brings together the year's finest mathematics writing from around the world. Featuring promising new voices alongside some of the foremost names in the field, The Best Writing on Mathematics 2016 makes available to a wide audience many articles not easily found anywhere else—and you don't need to be a mathematician to enjoy them. These writings offer surprising insights into the nature, meaning, and practice of mathematics today. They delve into the history, philosophy, teaching, and everyday occurrences of math, and take readers behind the scenes of today's hottest mathematical debates. Here Burkard Polster shows how to invent your own variants of the Spot It! card game, Steven Strogatz presents young Albert Einstein's proof of the Pythagorean Theorem, Joseph Dauben and Marjorie Senechal find a treasure trove of math in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Andrew Gelman explains why much scientific research based on statistical testing is spurious. In other essays, Brian Greene discusses the evolving assumptions of the physicists who developed the mathematical underpinnings of string theory, Jorge Almeida examines the misperceptions of people who attempt to predict lottery results, and Ian Stewart offers advice to authors who aspire to write successful math books for general readers. And there's much, much more. In addition to presenting the year's most memorable writings on mathematics, this must-have anthology includes a bibliography of other notable writings and an introduction by the editor, Mircea Pitici. This book belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in where math has taken us—and where it is headed.

Discrete Encounters

Author : Craig Bauer
Publisher : CRC Press
Page : 718 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2020-05-14
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9780429682896

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Discrete Encounters by Craig Bauer Pdf

Eschewing the often standard dry and static writing style of traditional textbooks, Discrete Encounters provides a refreshing approach to discrete mathematics. The author blends traditional course topics and applications with historical context, pop culture references, and open problems. This book focuses on the historical development of the subject and provides fascinating details of the people behind the mathematics, along with their motivations, deepening readers’ appreciation of mathematics. This unique book covers many of the same topics found in traditional textbooks, but does so in an alternative, entertaining style that better captures readers’ attention. In addition to standard discrete mathematics material, the author shows the interplay between the discrete and the continuous and includes high-interest topics such as fractals, chaos theory, cellular automata, money-saving financial mathematics, and much more. Not only will readers gain a greater understanding of mathematics and its culture, they will also be encouraged to further explore the subject. Long lists of references at the end of each chapter make this easy. Highlights: Features fascinating historical context to motivate readers Text includes numerous pop culture references throughout to provide a more engaging reading experience Its unique topic structure presents a fresh approach The text’s narrative style is that of a popular book, not a dry textbook Includes the work of many living mathematicians Its multidisciplinary approach makes it ideal for liberal arts mathematics classes, leisure reading, or as a reference for professors looking to supplement traditional courses Contains many open problems Profusely illustrated

The Best Writing on Mathematics 2012

Author : Mircea Pitici
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 321 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2012-11-11
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9781400844678

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The Best Writing on Mathematics 2012 by Mircea Pitici Pdf

The year's finest writing on mathematics from around the world This annual anthology brings together the year's finest mathematics writing from around the world. Featuring promising new voices alongside some of the foremost names in the field, The Best Writing on Mathematics 2012 makes available to a wide audience many articles not easily found anywhere else--and you don't need to be a mathematician to enjoy them. These writings offer surprising insights into the nature, meaning, and practice of mathematics today. They delve into the history, philosophy, teaching, and everyday occurrences of math, and take readers behind the scenes of today's hottest mathematical debates. Here Robert Lang explains mathematical aspects of origami foldings; Terence Tao discusses the frequency and distribution of the prime numbers; Timothy Gowers and Mario Livio ponder whether mathematics is invented or discovered; Brian Hayes describes what is special about a ball in five dimensions; Mark Colyvan glosses on the mathematics of dating; and much, much more. In addition to presenting the year's most memorable writings on mathematics, this must-have anthology includes a foreword by esteemed mathematician David Mumford and an introduction by the editor Mircea Pitici. This book belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in where math has taken us--and where it is headed.

The Outer Limits of Reason

Author : Noson S. Yanofsky
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 419 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2016-11-04
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780262529846

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The Outer Limits of Reason by Noson S. Yanofsky Pdf

This exploration of the scientific limits of knowledge challenges our deep-seated beliefs about our universe, our rationality, and ourselves. “A must-read for anyone studying information science.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review Many books explain what is known about the universe. This book investigates what cannot be known. Rather than exploring the amazing facts that science, mathematics, and reason have revealed to us, this work studies what science, mathematics, and reason tell us cannot be revealed. In The Outer Limits of Reason, Noson Yanofsky considers what cannot be predicted, described, or known, and what will never be understood. He discusses the limitations of computers, physics, logic, and our own intuitions about the world—including our ideas about space, time, and motion, and the complex relationship between the knower and the known. Yanofsky describes simple tasks that would take computers trillions of centuries to complete and other problems that computers can never solve: • perfectly formed English sentences that make no sense • different levels of infinity • the bizarre world of the quantum • the relevance of relativity theory • the causes of chaos theory • math problems that cannot be solved by normal means • statements that are true but cannot be proven Moving from the concrete to the abstract, from problems of everyday language to straightforward philosophical questions to the formalities of physics and mathematics, Yanofsky demonstrates a myriad of unsolvable problems and paradoxes. Exploring the various limitations of our knowledge, he shows that many of these limitations have a similar pattern and that by investigating these patterns, we can better understand the structure and limitations of reason itself. Yanofsky even attempts to look beyond the borders of reason to see what, if anything, is out there.

The Best Writing on Mathematics 2010

Author : Mircea Pitici,William P. Thurston
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 435 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2011
Category : Literary Collections
ISBN : 9780691148410

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The Best Writing on Mathematics 2010 by Mircea Pitici,William P. Thurston Pdf

This anthology also includes a foreword by esteemed mathematician William Thurston and an informative introduction by Mircea Pitici. --Book Jacket.

Love and Math

Author : Edward Frenkel
Publisher : Basic Books
Page : 314 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2013-10-01
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9780465069958

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Love and Math by Edward Frenkel Pdf

An awesome, globe-spanning, and New York Times bestselling journey through the beauty and power of mathematics What if you had to take an art class in which you were only taught how to paint a fence? What if you were never shown the paintings of van Gogh and Picasso, weren't even told they existed? Alas, this is how math is taught, and so for most of us it becomes the intellectual equivalent of watching paint dry. In Love and Math, renowned mathematician Edward Frenkel reveals a side of math we've never seen, suffused with all the beauty and elegance of a work of art. In this heartfelt and passionate book, Frenkel shows that mathematics, far from occupying a specialist niche, goes to the heart of all matter, uniting us across cultures, time, and space. Love and Math tells two intertwined stories: of the wonders of mathematics and of one young man's journey learning and living it. Having braved a discriminatory educational system to become one of the twenty-first century's leading mathematicians, Frenkel now works on one of the biggest ideas to come out of math in the last 50 years: the Langlands Program. Considered by many to be a Grand Unified Theory of mathematics, the Langlands Program enables researchers to translate findings from one field to another so that they can solve problems, such as Fermat's last theorem, that had seemed intractable before. At its core, Love and Math is a story about accessing a new way of thinking, which can enrich our lives and empower us to better understand the world and our place in it. It is an invitation to discover the magic hidden universe of mathematics.

Introduction to Group Theory

Author : Oleg Vladimirovič Bogopolʹskij
Publisher : European Mathematical Society
Page : 196 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 3037190418

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Introduction to Group Theory by Oleg Vladimirovič Bogopolʹskij Pdf

This book quickly introduces beginners to general group theory and then focuses on three main themes : finite group theory, including sporadic groups combinatorial and geometric group theory, including the Bass-Serre theory of groups acting on trees the theory of train tracks by Bestvina and Handel for automorphisms of free groups With its many examples, exercises, and full solutions to selected exercises, this text provides a gentle introduction that is ideal for self-study and an excellent preparation for applications. A distinguished feature of the presentation is that algebraic and geometric techniques are balanced. The beautiful theory of train tracks is illustrated by two nontrivial examples. Presupposing only a basic knowledge of algebra, the book is addressed to anyone interested in group theory: from advanced undergraduate and graduate students to specialists.

The Chemistry Redemption

Author : Conal Boyce
Publisher : Lulu.com
Page : 504 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2010-07-09
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9780557527939

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The Chemistry Redemption by Conal Boyce Pdf

The book's focus is basic chemistry, but along the way it branches out into full-length chapters/appendices on particle physics, mathematics, information theory, probability and philosophy-of-science. In the end, it is more philosophical treatise than chemistry text, although it does include a number of hands-on kitchen chemistry experiments, as an integral part of the advocated philosophy.