Relates how mathematical genius John Forbes Nash, jr., suffered a breakdown at age thirty-one and was diagnosed with schizophrenia, but experienced a remission of his illness thirty years later

From the author of The Accelerating Universe comes a thought-provoking look at phi or "The Golden Ratio," discovered by Euclid more than two thousand years ago, examining the meaning of this remarkable mathematical proportion in terms of science, biology, art and architecture, philosophy, and other fields. Reprint.

Teaches core algabraic concepts, discussing topics such as segments, lines, and inequalities; linear equations; polynomial arithmetic; factoring polynomials; rational expressions; and complex numbers.

An intriguing and illuminating look at how randomness, chance, and probability affect our daily lives. Successes and failures in life are often attributed to clear causes, when actually they are profoundly influenced by randomness and chance. Here, with the sense of narrative and imaginative approach of a storyteller, Leonard Mlodinow vividly demonstrates how wine ratings, corporate success, school grades, and political polls are less reliable than we believe. Showing us the true nature of chance and revealing the psychological illusions that cause us to misjudge the world around us, Mlodinow provides the tools we need for more informed decision making. From the classroom to the courtroom and from financial markets to supermarkets, Mlodinow's insights will intrigue, awe, and inspire.

The history of a controversial but important number begins with its inventors, the Babylonians, and follows its tumultuous and fascinating story to the present era of supercomputers and quantum physics. Reprint.

Examines the nation's burgeoning inability to deal rationally with very large numbers, assesses the impact on government policymaking and everyday life, and shows what can be done about this.

Einstein's theory of relativity and contributions to quantum physics are viewed in relation to his personal life and development

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 Best American Magazine Writing, The Best American Science and Nature Writing, 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.

We human beings have trouble with infinity - yet infinity is a surprisingly human subject. This title takes us on a tour of that borderland between the extremely large and the ultimate that takes us from Archimedes, counting the grains of sand that would fill the universe, to the theories on the physical reality of the infinite.