Is mathematics inevitable?
Subtitle: a miscellany
By: edited by Underwood Dudley.
Contributors: Klosinski, Leonard F.; Dudley, Underwood.; Alexanderson, Gerald L.; Altshiller-Court, Nathan, b. 1881.; Aubry, John.; Cardano, Girolamo, 1501-1576.; Carroll, Lewis, 1832-1898.; Cohen, Patricia Cline.; Dieudonné, Jean, 1906-1992.; Gallian, Joseph A.; Gillings, Richard J.; Guy, Richard K.; Guy, Richard K.; Hallerberg, Arthur E. 1918-1978.; Halmos, Paul R. 1916-2006.; Hemenway, David.; Kline, Morris, 1908-; Linderholm, Carl E.; McCabe, Robert L.; Rothstein, Edward, 1952-; Sholander, Marlow.; Smith, David Eugene, 1860-1944.; Smith, James, 1805-1872.; Smith, Steven Bradley.; Synge, J. L. 1897-; Trudeau, Richard J.; Ying, Wong Ngai.
Series: Spectrum series; MAA spectrum
Publisher: Mathematical Association of America
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Washington, D.C
Language: eng
Number of pages: 325
ISBN-13: 9780883855669
Subjects: Mathematics -- Miscellanea; Mathematics -- Humor
Genres: Miscellanea; Humor
Other titles: Quadratic equations.
Description: This is a collection of gems from the literature of mathematics that shine as brightly today as when they first appeared in print - they deserve to be seen and admired. The selections include two opposing views on the purpose of mathematics, the strong law of small numbers, the treatment of calculus in the 1771 Encyclopaedia Britannica, several proofs that the number of legs on a horse is infinite, a deserved refutation of the ridiculous Euler-Diderot anecdote, the real story of and the Indiana legislature, the reason why Theodorus stopped proving that square roots were irrational when he got to the square root of 17, an excerpt from Mathematics Made Difficult, a glimpse into the mind of a calculating prodigy, and much more. There will be something here for anyone interested in mathematics.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Dieudonné on mathematics : mathematics and mathematicians / Jean Dieudonné; title: Why is mathematics? : Mathematics and the physical world / Morris Kline; title: Is mathematics inevitable? : Mathematics in fun and in earnest / Nathan Altshiller Court; title: A defense of quadratic equations : quadratic equations; title: Obtuse triangles : there are three times as many obtuse-angled triangles as there are acute-angled ones / Richard K. Guy; title: Why your classes are larger than "average" / David Hemenway; title: Why is a restaurant's business worse in the owner's eyes than in the customers'? / Wong Ngai Ying; title: Applied mathematics : assigning driver's license numbers / Jospeh A. Gallian; title: The law of small numbers : the strong law of small numbers / Richard K. Guy; title: The parallel postulate : the problem with Postulate 5 / Richard J. Trudeau; title: Arithmetic in the United States : a calculating people / Patricia Cline Cohen; title: The Moore Method: I want to be a mathematician / Paul Halmos; title: Early calculus; title: Problems : on the origin of certain typical problems / David Eugene Smith; title: A tangled tale / Lewis Carroll; title: A brief life : brief lives / John Aubry; title: Cardano : the book of my life / Jerome Cardan; title: Boole and finite differences : George Boole and the calculus of finite differences / J.L. Synge; title: Calculating prodigies : the great mental calculators / Steven B. Smith; title: James Smith, circle-squarer : the quadrature of the circle / James Smith; title: Legislating [pi] : Indiana's squared circle / Arthur E. Hallerberg; title: Mathematics and music : emblems of mind / Edward Rothstein; title: Mathematics books : on the value of mathematics (books) / G.L. Alexanderson and L.F. Klosinski; title: Irrational square roots : Theodorus' irrationality proofs / Robert L. McCabe; title: The Euler-Diderot anecdote : the so-called Euler-Diderot incident / R.J. Gillings; title: Mathematics made difficult / Carl E. Linderholm; title: Mathematical humor : on the set of legs of a horse / Marlow Sholander.