The Universal Book of Mathematics: From Abracadabra to Zeno’s Paradoxes 1st Edition by David Darling (PDF)

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Praise for David DarlingThe Universal Book of Astronomy””A first-rate resource for readers and students of popular astronomy and general science. . . . Highly recommended.””-Library Journal””A comprehensive survey and . . . a rare treat.””-FocusThe Complete Book of Spaceflight””Darling’s content and presentation will have any reader moving from entry to entry.””-The Observatory magazineLife Everywhere””This remarkable book exemplifies the best of today’s popular science writing: it is lucid, informative, and thoroughly enjoyable.””-Science Books & Films””An enthralling introduction to the new science of astrobiology.””-Lynn MargulisEquations of Eternity””One of the clearest and most eloquent expositions of the quantum conundrum and its philosophical and metaphysical implications that I have read recently.””-The New York TimesDeep Time””A wonderful book. The perfect overview of the universe.””-Larry Niven

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: From Booklist Darling, who has written books about astronomy and science for young adults, has followed the successful formula found in his Universal Book of Astronomy (Wiley, 2004), to compile an encyclopedia of mathematical terms, concepts, and problems; short biographies of pioneering mathematicians; puzzles; diagrams; pictures; and history. Entries cover subjects ranging from the fairly simple (arithmetic) to the more complex (Cabali-Yau space). The goal is to present “the unusual and the outrageous, the fanciful and the fantastic: a compendium of the mathematics they didn’t teach you in school.” To this end, the book treats numerous topics one would not expect to find in more academic math dictionaries–illusions, classic chess problems, the 1884 novel Flatland, to give a few examples.Entries are alphabetized and thoroughly cross-referenced. Some are as brief as a single sentence (for example, Congruent, Nonagon), while others are a page or more (Maze, Pi). The writing is accessible and provides enough information to assist the reader in understanding the term being described. An impressive list of references used to compile the entries is included at the end of the volume, along with the solutions to the mathematical puzzles referred to in the text. This resource would be appropriate for high-school, public, and academic libraries and could be considered a basic tool in this subject. Kathryn O’GormanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved From the Inside Flap What makes a number weird, and why, as far as anyone can tell, aren’t weird numbers odd? What do monsters, moonshine, and 24-dimensional oranges have in common? Why couldn’t Sam Loyd get a patent for his famous fifteen puzzle? What is the significance of the statement “the smallest number not nameable in under ten words”? Can one infinity be larger than another?If you are fascinated by the weird, the odd, the curious, and the just plain puzzling, it’s no wonder that you’re drawn to mathematics. And, if you can’t resist the urge to indulge these fascinations–and discover plenty of new ones while you’re at it–welcome to The Universal Book of Mathematics.This unique, one-stop, A-to-Z resource is packed with more than 1,800 entries that cover everything from nuts-and-bolts math to the most arcane unsolved theorems, from profiles of notable mathematicians to intriguing puzzles, challenging games, and even math humor.The noted astronomer and celebrated author David Darling has always been inspired by the impact of mathematics on the imagination. He has, therefore, taken this opportunity to expound on every significant number, shape, ratio, dimension, theorem, conjecture, set, and paradox in the mathematical universe. And he provides more in-depth information than the entire current crop of math dictionaries combined!You’ll find stimulating discussions on the search for a fourth dimension and its impact on such authors as H. G. Wells and Edwin Abbott; the reality of imaginary numbers; parallel universes; and patterns in the heart of chaos. You’ll also discover the number that infects the whole of mathematics and places fundamental limits on what we can know; the “cloud” that surrounds every real number; and how to marry a sultan’s daughter.The Universal Book of Mathematics is fully cross-referenced and brimming with all of the history, science, and numerical magic you need to make sense of everything from nothing to an infinite number of infinities. Whether you’re an amateur mathematician, a recreational math buff, or a dedicated student of numbers, this is the helpful resource, the entertaining pastime, and the indispensable reference you’ve been waiting for. From the Back Cover Praise for David DarlingThe Universal Book of Astronomy”A first-rate resource for readers and students of popular astronomy and general science. . . . Highly recommended.” –Library Journal”A comprehensive survey and . . . a rare treat.” –FocusThe Complete Book of Spaceflight”Darling’s content and presentation will have any reader moving from entry to entry.”–The Observatory magazineLife Everywhere”This remarkable book exemplifies the best of today’s popular science writing: it is lucid, informative, and thoroughly enjoyable.”–Science Books & Films”An enthralling introduction to the new science of astrobiology.”–Lynn MargulisEquations of Eternity”One of the clearest and most eloquent expositions of the quantum conundrum and its philosophical and metaphysical implications that I have read recently.”–The New York TimesDeep Time”A wonderful book. The perfect overview of the universe.”–Larry Niven About the Author DAVID DARLING, Ph.D., received his doctorate in astronomy from the University of Manchester, England. He is the author of The Universal Book of Astronomy (Wiley), The Complete Book of Spaceflight (Wiley), The Extraterrestrial Encyclopedia, Deep Time, Equations of Eternity (a New York Times Notable Book), Soul Search, and Zen Physics. Read more

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This encyclopedia of mathematics was quite worthwhile to read nevertheless.I expected an in-depth review of various famous math formulas and procedures for calculating numbers and short stories about the people who created them.Most of the items listed were interesting to read about.Yet,some were just trivial in nature.Based upon the glowing reviews,i felt compelled to investigate this book further.For the serious math student,this book is more crust than bread.For a book entitled,’Universal’,it’s fairly enclusive to the British and German mathematicians only. Now,puzzlers and ratzlers may be entertained by the charming entries within and even given the impetus to advance their research into weightier mathematic descriptions.However,this book only appears on the ‘heavyside’,not really enriching enough to nurture a sprouting engineer into fructation.A better title would simply be,”A Short History of Popular Mathematics and Puzzles”.

⭐Not comprehensive nor technical, though sometimes that approach is needed to make the subject fun for those who are not naturally inclined towards it.

⭐It’s kind of a neat book. But, it’s written like an encyclopedia, so I’ll never sit down and read it. The entries are neat, but for the most part not that interesting. Most of it focuses on rather basic mathematics and doesn’t get into enough detail to be interesting. I don’t know why I bought this, really, it just sits on the coffee table and gathers dust. It may be neat to include in your library, if you teach mathematics.

⭐I previously checked out the book from a local library and loved all the nifty entries in here. Very cool math content, however shipping was incredibly slow.

⭐Very nice book. I really like how fast I got it.

⭐A spectacular collection of mathematical curiosities!

⭐It is a “dictionary” of mathematical terms. Seems to be pretty complete. Great resource.

⭐So far I am finding this material very useful for list gathering — historic events, mathematicians.Note that while it provides no index, and is not searchable from the cloud version of Kindle, it is searchable from the PC version of Kindle. The authors should consider returning the index to the book with page numbers, as that is a very useful item to have.

⭐This is a superb encyclopaedia of mathematics, written in a manner comprehensible to ordinary mortals with only relatively basic mathematical knowledge. It is full of interesting information, and articles are well-cross-referenced. It is easy to start consulting it and find oneself drawn from article to article. Besides covering a huge array of mathematical topics, the book includes brief biographies of leading mathematicians. For the amateur or recreational mathematician, or the student starting on a maths course at university, the book is superb.

⭐Gathers together lots of math things not readily found elsewhere. Concisely written. Great to browse through, thoroughly recommended although only black and white illustrations, etc.

⭐Skusya no ikenga hoka no ziten yori tuyoku deteite yokatta.

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