Explores the plausibility of mathematical answers to puzzles in the physical world, in an accessible exploration of the lives and thoughts of such figures as Archimedes, Galileo, and Newton.

From ancient Babylon to the last great unsolved problems, Ian Stewart brings us his definitive history of mathematics. In his famous straightforward style, Professor Stewart explains each major development - from the first number systems to chaos theory - and considers how each affected society and changed everyday life forever.

A leading physicist and author of How to Dunk a Doughnut critically analyzes the modern science of game theory, its implications for understanding the evolution of cooperation in nature, and its applications in everyday human life, from the polite confines of an English dinner party to baseball strategies, quantum mechanics, and global diplomacy. Original.

The late creator of fractal geometry shares the story of his life from his early years as a member of a Lithuanian Jewish family in Warsaw and his extensive education to his longtime affiliation with the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center and the ways his which his ideas have significantly changed modern understandings of the natural and financial worlds.

ELLP ACK is a many faceted system for solving elliptic partial differential equations. It is a forerunner of the very high level, problem solving environments or expert systems that will become common in the next decade. While it is still far removed from the goals of the future, it is also far advanced compared to the Fortran library approach in common current use. Many people will find ELLP ACK an easy way to solve simple or moderately complex elliptic problems. Others will be able to solve really hard problems by digging a little deeper into ELLP ACK. ELLP ACK is a research tool for the study of numerical methods for solving elliptic problems. Its original purpose was for the evaluation and comparison of numerical software for elliptic problems. Simple examples of this use are given in Chapters 9-11. The general conclusion is that there are many ways to solve most elliptic problems, there are large differences in their efficiency and the most common ways are often less efficient, sometimes dramatically so.

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

Burdick (mathematics, Roger Williams U.) discusses at great length 39 mathematics books published over the course of three centuries in Mexico; Lima; and the English colonies of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New York. He used the juxtaposition to illustrate differences in interests and approaches, but more the flow of practical information between centers of learning. He also describes, though often in less detail, 218 almanacs, ephemerides, and lumarios published in the Americas during the same period. One appendix lists 17th-century comet books, and another comments on the place of logic in mathematics. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

This book is for anyone who has an interest in statistics and wants to learn more about it outside of a formal classroom setting. It can also be used by home-schooled students, tutored students, and those people wishing to change careers. The material is presented in an easy-to-follow way and can be best understood when read from beginning to end.

The author of the internationally best-selling Naked Economics takes on the stuffy study of statistics to describe and demystify another essential discipline by explaining how Netflix knows which movies you'll like and how to catch schools that cheat on standardized tests.

What Lynn Truss did for grammar in Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Andrew Hodges has done for mathematics. In One to Nine, Hodges, one of Britain's leading biographers and mathematical writers, brings numbers to three-dimensional life in this delightful and illuminating volume, filled with illustrations, which makes even the most challenging math problems accessible to the layman. Starting with the puzzle of defining unity, and ending with the recurring nines of infinite decimals, Hodges tells a story that takes in quantum physics, cosmology, climate change, and the origin of the computer. Hodges has written a classic work, at once playful but also satisfyingly instructional, which will be ideal for the math aficionado and the Sudoku addict, as well as the life of the party.