Undiluted Hocus Pocus

Author : Martin Gardner
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 264 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2015-11-03
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9780691169699

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Undiluted Hocus-Pocus by Martin Gardner Pdf

The autobiography of the beloved writer who inspired a generation to study math and science Martin Gardner wrote the Mathematical Games column for Scientific American for twenty-five years and published more than seventy books on topics as diverse as magic, religion, and Alice in Wonderland. Gardner's illuminating autobiography is a candid self-portrait by the man evolutionary theorist Stephen Jay Gould called our "single brightest beacon" for the defense of rationality and good science against mysticism and anti-intellectualism. Gardner takes readers from his childhood in Oklahoma to his varied and wide-ranging professional pursuits. He shares colorful anecdotes about the many fascinating people he met and mentored, and voices strong opinions on the subjects that matter to him most, from his love of mathematics to his uncompromising stance against pseudoscience. For Gardner, our mathematically structured universe is undiluted hocus-pocus—a marvelous enigma, in other words. Undiluted Hocus-Pocus offers a rare, intimate look at Gardner’s life and work, and the experiences that shaped both.

Author : Martin Gardner
Publisher : Courier Corporation
Page : 208 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2014-12-02
Category : Games & Activities
ISBN : 9780486801179

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Mathematics, Magic and Mystery by Martin Gardner Pdf

Famed puzzle expert explains math behind a multitude of mystifying tricks: card tricks, stage "mind reading," coin and match tricks, counting out games, geometric dissections, etc. More than 400 tricks. 135 illustrations.

Author : Piet Hein
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 136 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 1969
Category : Danish poetry
ISBN : UVA:X001181359

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Grooks by Piet Hein Pdf

Author : Martin Gardner
Publisher : Courier Corporation
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2012-05-04
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780486131627

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Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science by Martin Gardner Pdf

Fair, witty appraisal of cranks, quacks, and quackeries of science and pseudoscience: hollow earth, Velikovsky, orgone energy, Dianetics, flying saucers, Bridey Murphy, food and medical fads, and much more.

Author : G. K. Chesterton
Publisher : The Floating Press
Page : 291 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2009-04-01
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781775414728

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The Napoleon of Notting Hill by G. K. Chesterton Pdf

The Napoleon of Notting Hill is a futuristic novel set in London in 1984. Chesterton envisions neither great technological leaps nor totalitarian suppression. Instead, England is ruled by a series of randomly selected Kings, because people have become entirely indifferent. The joker Auberon Quin is crowned and he instates elaborate costumes for every sector of London. All the city's provosts are bored with the idea except for the earnest young Adam Wayne - the Napoleon of Notting Hill.

Author : Silvan S. Schweber
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 602 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2012-06-18
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780674065536

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Nuclear Forces by Silvan S. Schweber Pdf

On the fiftieth anniversary of Hiroshima, Nobel-winning physicist Hans Bethe called on his fellow scientists to stop working on weapons of mass destruction. What drove Bethe, the head of Theoretical Physics at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project, to renounce the weaponry he had once worked so tirelessly to create? That is one of the questions answered by Nuclear Forces, a riveting biography of Bethe’s early life and development as both a scientist and a man of principle. As Silvan Schweber follows Bethe from his childhood in Germany, to laboratories in Italy and England, and on to Cornell University, he shows how these differing environments were reflected in the kind of physics Bethe produced. Many of the young quantum physicists in the 1930s, including Bethe, had Jewish roots, and Schweber considers how Liberal Judaism in Germany helps explain their remarkable contributions. A portrait emerges of a man whose strategy for staying on top of a deeply hierarchical field was to tackle only those problems he knew he could solve. Bethe’s emotional maturation was shaped by his father and by two women of Jewish background: his overly possessive mother and his wife, who would later serve as an ethical touchstone during the turbulent years he spent designing nuclear bombs. Situating Bethe in the context of the various communities where he worked, Schweber provides a full picture of prewar developments in physics that changed the modern world, and of a scientist shaped by the unprecedented moral dilemmas those developments in turn created.

Author : Robert Bazell
Publisher : Random House
Page : 241 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2011-04-27
Category : Health & Fitness
ISBN : 9780307764980

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Her-2 by Robert Bazell Pdf

Two years after she underwent a mastectomy and chemotherapy, Barbara Bradfield's aggressive breast cancer had recurred and spread to her lungs. The outlook was grim. Then she took part in Genentech's clinical trials for a new drug. Five years later she remains cancer-free. Her-2 is the biography of Herceptin, the drug that provoked dramatic responses in Barbara Bradfield and other women in the trials and that offers promise for hundreds of thousands of breast cancer patients. Unlike chemotherapy or radiation, Herceptin has no disabling side effects. It works by inactivating Her-2/neu--a protein that makes cancer cells grow especially quickly-- produced by a gene found in 25 to 30 percent of all breast tumors. Herceptin caused some patients' cancers to disappear completely; in others, it slowed the progression of the disease and gave the women months or years they wouldn't otherwise have had. Herceptin is the first treatment targeted at a gene defect that gives rise to cancer. It marks the beginning of a new era of treatment for all kinds of cancers. Robert Bazell presents a riveting account of how Herceptin was born. Her-2 is a story of dramatic discoveries and strong personalities, showing the combination of scientific investigation, money, politics, ego, corporate decisions, patient activism, and luck involved in moving this groundbreaking drug from the lab to a patient's bedside. Bazell's deft portraits introduce us to the remarkable people instrumental in Herceptin's history, including Dr. Dennis Slamon, the driven UCLA oncologist who played the primary role in developing the treatment; Lily Tartikoff, wife of television executive Brandon Tartikoff, who tapped into Hollywood money and glamour to help fund Slamon's research; and Marti Nelson, who inspired the activists who lobbied for a "compassionate use" program that would allow women outside the clinical trials to have access to the limited supplies of Herceptin prior to FDA approval of the drug. And throughout there are the stories of the heroic women with advanced breast cancer who volunteered for the trials, risking what time they had left on an unproven treatment. Meticulously researched, written with clarity and compassion, Her-2 is masterly reporting on cutting-edge science.

Author : Persi Diaconis,Ron Graham
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 258 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2015-10-13
Category : Crafts & Hobbies
ISBN : 9780691169774

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Magical Mathematics by Persi Diaconis,Ron Graham Pdf

"Magical Mathematics reveals the secrets of amazing, fun-to-perform card tricks--and the profound mathematical ideas behind them--that will astound even the most accomplished magician. Persi Diaconis and Ron Graham provide easy, step-by-step instructions for each trick, explaining how to set up the effect and offering tips on what to say and do while performing it. Each card trick introduces a new mathematical idea, and varying the tricks in turn takes readers to the very threshold of today's mathematical knowledge. For example, the Gilbreath principle--a fantastic effect where the cards remain in control despite being shuffled--is found to share an intimate connection with the Mandelbrot set. Other card tricks link to the mathematical secrets of combinatorics, graph theory, number theory, topology, the Riemann hypothesis, and even Fermat's last theorem. Diaconis and Graham are mathematicians as well as skilled performers with decades of professional experience between them. In this book they share a wealth of conjuring lore, including some closely guarded secrets of legendary magicians. Magical Mathematics covers the mathematics of juggling and shows how the I Ching connects to the history of probability and magic tricks both old and new. It tells the stories--and reveals the best tricks--of the eccentric and brilliant inventors of mathematical magic. Magical Mathematics exposes old gambling secrets through the mathematics of shuffling cards, explains the classic street-gambling scam of three-card monte, traces the history of mathematical magic back to the thirteenth century and the oldest mathematical trick--and much more"-

Author : Colin Bruce
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 290 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2002
Category : Detective and mystery stories, American
ISBN : 0099428571

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Conned Again, Watson! by Colin Bruce Pdf

We all lose time and money because of bad decisions, perfectly happy in the illusion that our common sense is choosing the right path for us. In Conned Again, Watson! Sherlock Holmes uses his vast knowledge solve crimes and protect the innocent in a series of cautionary tales of greedy gamblers, reckless businessmen and ruthless conmen. From 'The Execution of Andrews' to 'The Case of the Gambling Nobleman' and 'The Case of the Paranoid Student', there has never been a more exciting way to learn when to take a calculated risk - and how to spot a scam. In this illuminating collection of twelve new Sherlock Holmes stories, challenges of logic, probability, statistics, game theory and more are illustrated. A thought-provoking introduction to maths relevant to everyday life, this book will change the way you look at making decisions.

Author : Kevin Kelly
Publisher : Basic Books
Page : 528 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2009-04-30
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780786747030

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Out Of Control by Kevin Kelly Pdf

Out of Control chronicles the dawn of a new era in which the machines and systems that drive our economy are so complex and autonomous as to be indistinguishable from living things.

Author : Arthur Engel
Publisher : American Mathematical Society
Page : 313 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2023-02-14
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9781470457037

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Exploring Mathematics with Your Computer by Arthur Engel Pdf

This is a mathematics book, not a programming book, although it explains Pascal to beginners. It is aimed at high school students and undergraduates with a strong interest in mathematics, and teachers looking for fresh ideas. It is full of diverse mathematical ideas requiring little background. It includes a large number of challenging problems, many of which illustrate how numerical computation leads to conjectures which can then be proved by mathematical reasoning. It is assumed that readers have a PC at their disposal.

Author : L. Frank Baum
Publisher : Graphic Arts Books
Page : 142 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2022-01-11
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781513210551

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The Last Egyptian by L. Frank Baum Pdf

The Last Egyptian (1908) is a novel by L. Frank Baum. Although he is more widely known as the author of the Land of Oz series, Baum also used several pseudonyms to make forays into more conventional fiction for adults. The Last Egyptian, published anonymously, is a story of corruption, betrayal, romance, and adventure. It was adapted into a 1914 silent film by Baum and J. Farrell MacDonald, an influential and prolific figure in early American cinema. “‘I regret,’ said he, with mock politeness, ‘that I have never before heard of your great forefather.’ ‘But why should you?’ asked the Egyptian. ‘You are, I suppose, one of those uneasy investigators that prowl through Egypt in a stupid endeavor to decipher the inscriptions on the old temples and tombs. You can read a little—yes; but that little puzzles and confuses you.’” Traveling across Egypt alone, English Egyptologist Winston Bey encounters an interesting local named Kāra. According to the young man, he is the descendant of Ahtka-Rā, a powerful advisor the Rameses II. Although he questions the truth of this claim, Winston enlists Kāra’s help. Back home, Kāra cares for his ailing grandmother Hatatcha, who reveals a life-changing secret upon her deathbed: he is the grandson of Lord Roane, a powerful Englishman who abandoned her while she was pregnant. From then on, Kāra swears to exact revenge on the man and his family. Before she dies, she shows him the way to their family’s ancient treasure, a horde of jewels and priceless artifacts with which he will fund his plot. While The Last Egyptian is far from the fantasy and fairy tale style most of Baum’s readers adore him for, it remains an entertaining work of adventure fiction for devoted fans of the Oz series and newcomers alike. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of L. Frank Baum’s The Last Egyptian is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

Author : Persi Diaconis,Brian Skyrms
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 270 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2019-10-08
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9780691196398

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Ten Great Ideas about Chance by Persi Diaconis,Brian Skyrms Pdf

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, gamblers and mathematicians transformed the idea of chance from a mystery into the discipline of probability, setting the stage for a series of breakthroughs that enabled or transformed innumerable fields, from gambling, mathematics, statistics, economics, and finance to physics and computer science. This book tells the story of ten great ideas about chance and the thinkers who developed them, tracing the philosophical implications of these ideas as well as their mathematical impact.

Author : Clive James
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 193 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2015-08-25
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9780300216394

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Latest Readings by Clive James Pdf

“[A] collection of Clive James’s essays on a variety of literary topics . . . This is sanity, humor and acuity in the face of death” (The Wall Street Journal). In 2010, Clive James was diagnosed with terminal leukemia. Deciding that “if you don’t know the exact moment when the lights will go out, you might as well read until they do,” James moved his library to his Cambridge house, where he would “live, read, and perhaps even write.” James is the award-winning author of dozens of works of literary criticism, poetry, and history, and this volume contains his reflections on what may well be his last reading list. A look at some of James’s old favorites as well as some of his recent discoveries, this book also offers a revealing look at the author himself, sharing his evocative musings on literature and family, and on living and dying. As thoughtful and erudite as the works of Alberto Manguel, and as moving and inspiring as Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture and Will Schwalbe’s The End of Your Life Book Club, this valediction to James’s lifelong engagement with the written word is a captivating valentine from one of the great literary minds of our time. “These essays and poems are death-haunted but radiant with the felt experience of what it means to be alive, even when mortally sick, especially when mortally sick.” —Financial Times “Latest Readings is a plain demonstration that Mr. James remains as learned and as funny as any critic on earth.” —The New York Times

Author : Alex Bellos
Publisher : Guardian Faber Publishing
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2016
Category : Mathematical recreations
ISBN : 1783351144

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Can You Solve My Problems? by Alex Bellos Pdf

A high-class puzzle book from the bestselling author of Alex's Adventures in Numberland; organised from easy-peasy to ninja level - with stories of puzzle mysteries, histories and scandals along the way this book will make your hippocampus happy.