50 Mathematical Ideas You Really Need to Know
Publisher: Quercus; Quercus Publishing
Published: April 3, 2008
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 208
ISBN-13: 9781847240088
Subjects: Mathematics
Description: "Who invented zero? Why 60 seconds in a minute? How big is infinity? Where do parallel lines meet? And can a butterfly's wings really cause a storm on the far side of the world? In 50 Mathematical Ideas You Really Need to Know, Professor Tony Crilly explains in 50 clear and concise essays the mathematical concepts - ancient and modern, theoretical and practical, everyday and esoteric - that allow us to understand and shape the world around us. Beginning with zero itself and concluding with the last great unsolved problem, 50 Mathematical Ideas introduces the origins of mathematics, from Egyptian fractions to Roman numerals; explains the near-mystical significance of pi and primes, Fibonacci numbers and the golden ratio; tells you the things they didn't at school - what calculus, statistics and algebra can actually do, and the very real uses of imaginary numbers; illuminates the big Ideas of relativity, chaos theory, fractals, genetics and hyperspace; reveals the unspoken reasoning behind Sudoku and code cracking, lotteries and gambling, money management and compound interest; explores the latest mind-shattering developments, including the solving of Fermat's last theorem and the million-dollar question of the Riemann hypothesis. Packed with diagrams, examples and anecdotes, 50 Mathematical Ideas is the perfect overview of this often daunting but always essential subject. For once, mathematics couldn't be simpler."--Publisher's description.
Table of contents: title: Introduction
pagenum: 3; label: 01
title: Zero
pagenum: 4; label: 02
title: Number systems
pagenum: 8; label: 03
title: Fractions
pagenum: 12; label: 04
title: Squares and square roots
pagenum: 16; label: 05
title: π
pagenum: 20; label: 06
title: e
pagenum: 24; label: 07
title: Infinity
pagenum: 28; label: 08
title: Imaginary numbers
pagenum: 32; label: 09
title: Primes
pagenum: 36; label: 10
title: Perfect numbers
pagenum: 40; label: 11
title: Fibonacci numbers
pagenum: 44; label: 12
title: Golden rectangles
pagenum: 48; label: 13
title: Pascal's triangle
pagenum: 52; label: 14
title: Algebra
pagenum: 56; label: 15
title: Euclid's algorithm
pagenum: 60; label: 16
title: Logic
pagenum: 64; label: 17
title: Proof
pagenum: 68; label: 18
title: Sets
pagenum: 72; label: 19
title: Calculus
pagenum: 76; label: 20
title: Constructions
pagenum: 80; label: 21
title: Triangles
pagenum: 84; label: 22
title: Curves
pagenum: 88; label: 23
title: Topology
pagenum: 92; label: 24
title: Dimension
pagenum: 96; label: 25
title: Fractals
pagenum: 100; label: 26
title: Chaos
pagenum: 104; label: 27
title: The parallel postulate
pagenum: 108; label: 28
title: Discrete geometry
pagenum: 112; label: 29
title: Graphs
pagenum: 116; label: 30
title: The four-colour problem
pagenum: 120; label: 31
title: Probability
pagenum: 124; label: 32
title: Bayes's theory
pagenum: 128; label: 33
title: The birthday problem
pagenum: 132; label: 34
title: Distributions
pagenum: 136; label: 35
title: The normal curve
pagenum: 140; label: 36
title: Connecting data
pagenum: 144; label: 37
title: Genetics
pagenum: 148; label: 38
title: Groups
pagenum: 152; label: 39
title: Matrices
pagenum: 156; label: 40
title: Codes
pagenum: 160; label: 41
title: Advanced counting
pagenum: 164; label: 42
title: Magic squares
pagenum: 168; label: 43
title: Latin squares
pagenum: 172; label: 44
title: Money mathematics
pagenum: 176; label: 45
title: The diet problem
pagenum: 180; label: 46
title: The travelling salesperson
pagenum: 184; label: 47
title: Game theory
pagenum: 188; label: 48
title: Relativity
pagenum: 192; label: 49
title: Fermat's last theorem
pagenum: 196; label: 50
title: The Riemann hypothesis
pagenum: 200; title: Glossary
pagenum: 204; title: Index
pagenum: 206