It All Adds Up The Story Of People And Mathematics
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It All Adds Up: The Story of People and Mathematics by Mickael Launay Pdf
‘Fascinating ... so enlightening that suddenly maths doesn’t seem so fearsome as it once did’ SIMON WINCHESTER From Aristotle to Ada Lovelace: a brief history of the mathematical ideas that have forever changed the world and the everyday people and pioneers behind them. The story of our best invention yet.
SUMMARY - It All Adds Up: The Story Of People And Mathematics By Mickael Launay by Shortcut Edition Pdf
*By reading this summary, you will discover that the history of mathematics has nothing to envy to the discovery of the New World. It is also thrilling and surprising! The numbers we use every day, the shapes we draw, the theorems our children learn are all the result of a stroke of genius from one of our distant ancestors and have survived centuries of questioning, to make our lives easier today. Are you ready to go back in time to meet those who did the mathematics? *You will also discover that : most mathematical theorems have been developed from very concrete problems drawn from everyday life; the history of mathematics has been transformed by prodigious men and women who have revolutionized this discipline; mathematical theories sometimes take a long time to be accepted by the scientific community. *The author recounts that he set up his stand at the small summer market of La Flotte-en-Ré, between a stall of African braids and another of cell phones. The place seemed unusual to him: that's good, he likes to do math in unlikely places. He should be happy to see the wide-eyed eyes of schoolchildren or their grandparents who realize, by practicing origami or solving its riddles, that mathematics can be exciting. But deep down he feels sorry for himself. Why does this discipline have such a bad press, as it is at the origin of so many things? Why is it so scary? It is time to tame it through a novel and to discover the great steps that made its history ...
The Ishango bones were found in the 1950s by Belgian archaeologist Jean de Heinzelin near a Palaeolithic residence in Ishango, Africa. The inscriptions in the bones, which can be interpreted as numbers, are unique in their complexity in human history. Interestingly, on one of the two Ishango bones, we also find the six consecutive prime numbers 5, 7, 11, 13, 17 and 19. Did Stone Age people already know the secret of the prime numbers? This question is explored in my mathematical essay "The Secret of Ishango Bones", an adventurous journey around the world from Basel in Switzerland to Erode in India. The presumed connection between the numbers on the Ishango bones and the structure of the prime numbers is illustrated by a sketch at the end of the text. Are the prime numbers organized as a double helix like DNA? Where did the people of Ishango get this knowledge? Did they perhaps have visits from aliens? As the physicist and mathematician Freeman John Dyson said so beautifully: "For any speculation which does not at first glance look crazy, there is no hope." Starring: Albert Einstein, Alberto Giacometti, Athanasius Kircher, Benoît Mandelbrot, Bernhard Riemann, Blaise Pascal, Carl Friedrich Gauss, Douglas R. Hofstadter, Edgar Allan Poe, Erich Kästner, Euklid von Alexandria, Galileo Galilei, Gebrüder Bernoulli, Godfrey Harold Hardy, Grigori Perelman, Jean de Heinzelin, Johann Jakob Balmer, Karl-Heinz Kuhl, Kurt Gödel, Leonhard Euler, Maria Mitchell, Matsuo Basho, Niels Bohr, Rosalind Franklin, Srinivasa Ramanujan, Theodor Kaluza, Werner Heisenberg, Wolfgang Pauli, Yitang Zhang christofborn.net
Mathematics for Human Flourishing by Francis Su Pdf
"The ancient Greeks argued that the best life was filled with beauty, truth, justice, play and love. The mathematician Francis Su knows just where to find them."--Kevin Hartnett, Quanta Magazine" This is perhaps the most important mathematics book of our time. Francis Su shows mathematics is an experience of the mind and, most important, of the heart."--James Tanton, Global Math Project For mathematician Francis Su, a society without mathematical affection is like a city without concerts, parks, or museums. To miss out on mathematics is to live without experiencing some of humanity's most beautiful ideas. In this profound book, written for a wide audience but especially for those disenchanted by their past experiences, an award-winning mathematician and educator weaves parables, puzzles, and personal reflections to show how mathematics meets basic human desires--such as for play, beauty, freedom, justice, and love--and cultivates virtues essential for human flourishing. These desires and virtues, and the stories told here, reveal how mathematics is intimately tied to being human. Some lessons emerge from those who have struggled, including philosopher Simone Weil, whose own mathematical contributions were overshadowed by her brother's, and Christopher Jackson, who discovered mathematics as an inmate in a federal prison. Christopher's letters to the author appear throughout the book and show how this intellectual pursuit can--and must--be open to all.
An entertaining look at the origins of mathematical symbols While all of us regularly use basic math symbols such as those for plus, minus, and equals, few of us know that many of these symbols weren't available before the sixteenth century. What did mathematicians rely on for their work before then? And how did mathematical notations evolve into what we know today? In Enlightening Symbols, popular math writer Joseph Mazur explains the fascinating history behind the development of our mathematical notation system. He shows how symbols were used initially, how one symbol replaced another over time, and how written math was conveyed before and after symbols became widely adopted. Traversing mathematical history and the foundations of numerals in different cultures, Mazur looks at how historians have disagreed over the origins of the numerical system for the past two centuries. He follows the transfigurations of algebra from a rhetorical style to a symbolic one, demonstrating that most algebra before the sixteenth century was written in prose or in verse employing the written names of numerals. Mazur also investigates the subconscious and psychological effects that mathematical symbols have had on mathematical thought, moods, meaning, communication, and comprehension. He considers how these symbols influence us (through similarity, association, identity, resemblance, and repeated imagery), how they lead to new ideas by subconscious associations, how they make connections between experience and the unknown, and how they contribute to the communication of basic mathematics. From words to abbreviations to symbols, this book shows how math evolved to the familiar forms we use today.
An illuminating, millennia-spanning history of the impact mathematics has had on the world, and the fascinating people who have mastered its inherent power Counting is not innate to our nature, and without education humans can rarely count past three — beyond that, it’s just “more.” But once harnessed by our ancestors, the power of numbers allowed humanity to flourish in ways that continue to lead to discoveries and enrich our lives today. Ancient tax collectors used basic numeracy to fuel the growth of early civilization, navigators used clever geometrical tricks to engage in trade and connect people across vast distances, astronomers used logarithms to unlock the secrets of the heavens, and their descendants put them to use to land us on the moon. In every case, mathematics has proved to be a greatly underappreciated engine of human progress. In this captivating, sweeping history, Michael Brooks acts as our guide through the ages. He makes the case that mathematics was one of the foundational innovations that catapulted humanity from a nomadic existence to civilization, and that it has since then been instrumental in every great leap of humankind. Here are ancient Egyptian priests, Babylonian bureaucrats, medieval architects, dueling Swiss brothers, renaissance painters, and an eccentric professor who invented the infrastructure of the online world. Their stories clearly demonstrate that the invention of mathematics was every bit as important to the human species as was the discovery of fire. From first page to last, The Art of More brings mathematics back into the heart of what it means to be human.
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.
Most philosophers of mathematics treat it as isolated, timeless, ahistorical, inhuman. Reuben Hersh argues the contrary, that mathematics must be understood as a human activity, a social phenomenon, part of human culture, historically evolved, and intelligible only in a social context. Hersh pulls the screen back to reveal mathematics as seen by professionals, debunking many mathematical myths, and demonstrating how the "humanist" idea of the nature of mathematics more closely resembles how mathematicians actually work. At the heart of his book is a fascinating historical account of the mainstream of philosophy--ranging from Pythagoras, Descartes, and Spinoza, to Bertrand Russell, David Hilbert, and Rudolph Carnap--followed by the mavericks who saw mathematics as a human artifact, including Aristotle, Locke, Hume, Mill, and Lakatos. What is Mathematics, Really? reflects an insider's view of mathematical life, and will be hotly debated by anyone with an interest in mathematics or the philosophy of science.
Handbook Of Mathematical Science Communication by Anna Maria Hartkopf,Erin Henning Pdf
Mathematical science communication, as well as the field of science communication in general, has gained momentum over the last few decades. Mathematical science communication aims to inform the public about contemporary research, enhance factual and methodological knowledge, and foster a greater interest and support for the science of mathematics. This enables the public to apply it to their practical life, and to decision-making on a greater scale. These objectives are met in the various formats and media through which mathematical science communication is brought to the public.The first 13 chapters of the book consist of best-practice examples from the areas of informal math education, museums and exhibitions, and the arts. The final 5 chapters discuss the structural aspects of mathematical science communication and contribute to the basis for its theoretical framework.
This excellent book, written by the established author David Acheson, makes mathematics accessible to everyone. Providing an entertaining and witty overview of the subject, the text includes several fascinating puzzles, and is accompanied by numerous illustrations and sketches by world famouscartoonists. This unusual book is one of the most readable explanations of mathematics available.
Proofs from THE BOOK by Martin Aigner,Günter M. Ziegler Pdf
According to the great mathematician Paul Erdös, God maintains perfect mathematical proofs in The Book. This book presents the authors candidates for such "perfect proofs," those which contain brilliant ideas, clever connections, and wonderful observations, bringing new insight and surprising perspectives to problems from number theory, geometry, analysis, combinatorics, and graph theory. As a result, this book will be fun reading for anyone with an interest in mathematics.
From rocket scientists to code breakers, “fascinating stories” of women who overcame obstacles, shattered stereotypes, and pursued their passion for math (Notices of the American Mathematical Society). With more than 200 photos and original interviews with several of the amazing women covered, Power in Numbers: The Rebel Women of Mathematics is a full-color volume that puts a spotlight on the influence of women on the development of mathematics over the last two millennia. Each biography reveals the life of a different female mathematician, from her childhood and early influences to the challenges she faced and the great achievements she made in spite of them. Learn how: After her father terminated her math lessons, Sofia Kovalevskaya snuck algebra books into her bed to read at night Emmy Noether became an invaluable resource to Albert Einstein while she was in the Navy Native American rocket scientist Mary Golda Ross developed designs for fighter jets and missiles in a top-secret unit Katherine Johnson’s life-or-death calculations at NASA meant that astronauts such as Alan Shepard and John Glenn made it home alive Shakuntala Devi multiplied massive numbers in her head so her family could eat at night Pamela Harris proved her school counselors wrong when they told her she would only succeed as a bilinguial secretary Carla Cotwright-Williams began her life in the dangerous streets of South-Central Los Angeles before skyrocketing to a powerful career with the Department of Defense in Washington, DC These women are a diverse group, but their stories have one thing in common: At some point on their journeys, someone believed in them—and made them think the impossible was perhaps not so impossible. “A quick read . . . full of dramatic stories and eye-catching illustrations.” —MAA Reviews “I found myself marveling at the personal anecdotes and quotes throughout the book.” —Notices of the American Mathematical Society
A sharp mind, like a healthy body, is subject to the same ruleof nature: Use it or lose it Need a calculator just to work out a 15 percent service charge? Not exactly sure how to get the calculator to give you the figureyou need? Turn to this revised and updated edition of All the MathYou'll Ever Need, the friendliest, funniest, and easiest workoutprogram around. In no time, you'll have total command of all the powerfulmathematical tools needed to make numbers work for you. In adollars-and-cents, bottom-line world, where numbers influenceeverything, none of us can afford to let our math skills atrophy.This step-by-step personal math trainer: Refreshes practical math skills for your personal andprofessional needs, with examples based on everyday situations. Offers straightforward techniques for working with decimals and fractions. Demonstrates simple ways to figure discounts, calculatemortgage interest rates, and work out time, rate, and distance problems. Contains no complex formulas and no unnecessary technical terms.