Table of Contents
Color illustration insert follows page 128
Introduction Mircea Pitici ix
Outsmarting a Virus with Math Steven Strogatz 1
Uncertainty Peter J. Denning Ted G. Lewis 8
The Inescapable Casino Bruce M. Boghosian 15
Resolving the Fuel Economy Singularity Stan Wagon 29
The Median Voter Theorem: Why Politicians Move to the Center Jørgen Veisdal 39
The Math That Takes Newton into the Quantum World John Baez 45
Decades-Old Computer Science Conjecture Solved in Two Pages Erica Klarreich 54
The Three-Body Problem Richard Montgomery 61
The Intrigues and Delights of Kleinian and Quasi-Fuchsian Limit Sets Chris King 78
Mathematical Treasuresfrom Sid Sackson Jim Henle 92
The Amazing Math Inside the Kubik's Cube Dave Linkletter 108
What Is a Hyperbolic 3-Manifold? Colin Adams 115
Higher Dimensional Geometries: What Are They Good For? Boris Odehnal 122
Who Mourns the Tenth Heegner Number? James Propp 137
On Your Mark, Get Set, Multiply Patrick Honner 145
1994, The Year Calculus Was Born Ben Orlin 153
Gauss's Computation of the Easter Date Donald Teets 160
Mathematical Knowledge and Reality Paul Thagard 172
The Ins and Outs of Mathematical Explanation Mark Colyvan 189
Statistical Intervals, Not Statistical Significance Gerald J. Hahn Necip Doganaksoy William Q. Meeker 198
Contributors 205
Notable Writings 213
Acknowledgments 225
Credits 227
