Professor Stewart's Hoard of Mathematical Treasures

by Ian Stewart

Overview

Opening another drawer in his Cabinet of Curiosities, renowned mathematics professor Ian Stewart presents a new medley of games, paradoxes, and riddles in Professor Stewart's Hoard of Mathematical Treasures. With wit and aplomb, Stewart mingles casual puzzles with grander forays into ancient and modern mathematical thought.

Amongst a host of arcane and astonishing facts about every kind of number from irrational and imaginary to complex and cuneiform, we learn:

• How to organize chaos
• How matter balances anti-matter
• How to turn a sphere inside out (without creasing it)
• How to calculate pi by observing the stars
• . . . and why you can't comb a hairy ball.

Along the way Stewart offers the reader tantalizing glimpses of the mathematics underlying life and the universe. Mind-stretching, enlightening, and endlessly amusing, Professor Stewart's Hoard of Mathematical Treasures will stimulate, delight, and enthrall.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465017751
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	04/27/2010
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Ian Stewart is emeritus professor of mathematics at the University of Warwick. His recent books include Calculating the Cosmos, Significant Figures, In Pursuit of the Unknown, and Professor Stewart's Hoard of Mathematical Treasures. He is a fellow of the Royal Society. He lives in Coventry, UK.