Like Douglas HofstadterÂ's Gödel, Escher, Bach, and David BerlinskiÂ's A Tour of the Calculus, Euclid in the Rainforest combines the literary with the mathematical to explore logic—the one indispensable tool in manÂ's quest to understand the world. Underpinning both math and science, it is the foundation of every major advancement in knowledge since the time of the ancient Greeks. Through adventure stories and historical narratives populated with a rich and quirky cast of characters, Mazur artfully reveals the less-than-airtight nature of logic and the muddled relationship between math and the real world. Ultimately, Mazur argues, logical reasoning is not purely robotic. At its most basic level, it is a creative process guided by our intuitions and beliefs about the world. BACKCOVER: “This charming book radiates love of mathematics and of life . . . A treasure of human experience and intellectual excitement.Â

Presents a survey of advances in mathematics over the past twenty-five years, including such topics as prime numbers, factories, sets, and number systems

The history of geometry in relation to "space" discusses the contributions of Pythagoras, the advent of Albert Einstein's "fourth dimension," and the discovery of seven more dimensions by Princeton mathematician Edward Witten.

Mazur (mathematics, Marlboro College), like many a mathematician before him, seeks the truth. How he goes about it is to examine three kinds of logic, those from the ancient Greeks, the strange logic of infinity, and the everyday, practical, plausible logic that basically drives most scientific inquiry today. In a series of 16 zippy chapters, Mazur looks into what logic actually is and how and when it shows up, the various configurations of infinity as they strike such disparate surfaces as set theory and irrational numbers, and the ordinary, everyday logic that underlies the math that may or may not reflect the real world. Mazur's appendices double as very well-explained exercises. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Presents information on the fundamentals of pre-algebra in a concise, easy-to-follow manner and includes practice exercises throughout the book.

Anticipating the New York State Board of RegentsÂ’ new examination in geometry, this brand-new classroom text presents a detailed review of all topics prescribed as part of the high school curriculum. Separate chapters analyze and explain: the language of geometry; parallel lines and polygons; congruent triangles and inequalities; special quadrilaterals and coordinates; similarity (including ratio and proportion, and proving products equal); right triangles and trigonometry; circles and angle measurement; transformation geometry; locus and coordinates; and working in space (an introduction to solid geometry). Each chapter includes practice exercises with answers provided at the back of the book.

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.

Enhanced by easier-to-read graphs and additional practice problems, an introduction to algebra covers the basic principles of mathematics, including linear equations, inequalities, polynomials, exponents, logarithms, word problems, and more, all written in an easy-to-undertand style. Original.

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)

Documents the calculation, numerical value, and use of the ratio from 2000 B.C. to the modern computer age, detailing social conditions in eras when progress was made