This is the captivating story of mathematics' greatest ever idea: calculus. Without it, there would be no computers, no microwave ovens, no GPS, and no space travel. But before it gave modern man almost infinite powers, calculus was behind centuries of controversy, competition, and even death. Taking us on a thrilling journey through three millennia, professor Steven Strogatz charts the development of this seminal achievement from the days of Aristotle to today's million-dollar reward that awaits whoever cracks Reimann's hypothesis. Filled with idiosyncratic characters from Pythagoras to Euler, Infinite Powers is a compelling human drama that reveals the legacy of calculus on nearly every aspect of modern civilization, including science, politics, ethics, philosophy, and much besides.
In this wide-ranging and incisive collection, Peter Gowan traces the contours of the world order that emerged after the end of the Cold War and assesses its prospects in the light of the global economic downturn. Arguing that the present inter-state system was shaped from the outset by Washington's drive to maintain its status as global hegemon, Gowan dissects several cherished myths of the liberal mainstream, offering a radical counter-history of the UN and a sharp critique of the West's interventions in the Balkans. He provides a forceful response to advocates of a new cosmopolitanism, and engages with neo-realist theories of international relations-asking whether the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in a crisis for their visions of American power, and discussing what the lineaments of a future order might be. Closing with an interview conducted just before his death which discusses his life's work, A Calculus of Power is a penetrating look at contemporary world politics by one of the most renowned thinkers of the New Left.
A brilliant tour of mathematical thought and a guide to becoming a better thinker, How Not to Be Wrong shows that math is not just a long list of rules to be learned and carried out by rote. Math touches everything we do; It's what makes the world make sense. Using the mathematician's methods and hard-won insights-minus the jargon-professor and popular columnist Jordan Ellenberg guides general readers through his ideas with rigor and lively irreverence, infusing everything from election results to baseball to the existence of God and the psychology of slime molds with a heightened sense of clarity and wonder. Armed with the tools of mathematics, we can see the hidden structures beneath the messy and chaotic surface of our daily lives. How Not to Be Wrong shows us how--Publisher's description.
An entertaining look at the origins of mathematical symbols While all of us regularly use basic math symbols such as those for plus, minus, and equals, few of us know that many of these symbols weren't available before the sixteenth century. What did mathematicians rely on for their work before then? And how did mathematical notations evolve into what we know today? In Enlightening Symbols, popular math writer Joseph Mazur explains the fascinating history behind the development of our mathematical notation system. He shows how symbols were used initially, how one symbol replaced another over time, and how written math was conveyed before and after symbols became widely adopted. Traversing mathematical history and the foundations of numerals in different cultures, Mazur looks at how historians have disagreed over the origins of the numerical system for the past two centuries. He follows the transfigurations of algebra from a rhetorical style to a symbolic one, demonstrating that most algebra before the sixteenth century was written in prose or in verse employing the written names of numerals. Mazur also investigates the subconscious and psychological effects that mathematical symbols have had on mathematical thought, moods, meaning, communication, and comprehension. He considers how these symbols influence us (through similarity, association, identity, resemblance, and repeated imagery), how they lead to new ideas by subconscious associations, how they make connections between experience and the unknown, and how they contribute to the communication of basic mathematics. From words to abbreviations to symbols, this book shows how math evolved to the familiar forms we use today.
Noriko is just getting started as a junior reporter for the Asagake Times. She wants to cover the hard-hitting issues, like world affairs and politics, but does she have the smarts for it? Thankfully, her overbearing and math-minded boss, Mr. Seki, is here to teach her how to analyze her stories with a mathematical eye. In The Manga Guide to Calculus, you'll follow along with Noriko as she learns that calculus is more than just a class designed to weed out would-be science majors. You'll see that calculus is a useful way to understand the patterns in physics, economics, and the world around us, with help from real-world examples like probability, supply and demand curves, the economics of pollution, and the density of Shochu (a Japanese liquor). Mr. Seki teaches Noriko how to: –Use differentiation to understand a function's rate of change –Apply the fundamental theorem of calculus, and grasp the relationship between a function's derivative and its integral –Integrate and differentiate trigonometric and other complicated functions –Use multivariate calculus and partial differentiation to deal with tricky functions –Use Taylor Expansions to accurately imitate difficult functions with polynomials Whether you're struggling through a calculus course for the first time or you just need a painless refresher, you'll find what you're looking for in The Manga Guide to Calculus. This EduManga book is a translation from a bestselling series in Japan, co-published with Ohmsha, Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan.
Careful presentation of fundamentals of the theory by one of the finest modern expositors of higher mathematics. Covers functions of real and complex variables, arbitrary and null sequences, convergence and divergence, Cauchy's limit theorem, more.
This book goes beyond the basics of a first course in calculus to reveal the power and richness of the subject. Standard topics from calculus — such as the real numbers, differentiation and integration, mean value theorems, the exponential function — are reviewed and elucidated before digging into a deeper exploration of theory and applications, such as the AGM inequality, convexity, the art of integration, and explicit formulas for π. Further topics and examples are introduced through a plethora of exercises that both challenge and delight the reader. While the reader is thereby exposed to the many threads of calculus, the coherence of the subject is preserved throughout by an emphasis on patterns of development, of proof and argumentation, and of generalization. More Calculus of a Single Variable is suitable as a text for a course in advanced calculus, as a supplementary text for courses in analysis, and for self-study by students, instructors, and, indeed, all connoisseurs of ingenious calculations.
Think math is boring?Think again! Algebra to Calculus: Unlocking Math's Amazing Power tells the story of algebra and calculus to explore the surprising, fascinating and sometimes mind-boggling evolution of mathematics through the ages.How do you make a decision with numbers? You have to use a kind of math called Boolean algebra-it's a little strange because it only ever uses two numbers 1 or 0, and 1+1 always equals 1. Despite this weirdness, this algebra is used to create the nanoscale circuits in every microchip. Do you want to know more? Written to engage, entertain and enthuse readers young and old, Algebra to Calculus: Unlocking Math's Amazing Power takes an entirely new approach to the wonderful world of mathematics. Along the way, readers will meet with geniuses, such as Diophantus and Newton, who figured out how to turn math problems into general techniques that worked whatever the situation. Readers will not only learn how computer chips process their programs, but also how a smartphone knows where it is, what the link is between snowflakes, cannonballs and wine barrels, and how Carl Gauss figured out how to add up all the numbers between 1 and 100 in less than a minute-when he was just 10 years old! Algebra to Calculus: Unlocking Math's Amazing Power shows there is a lot more going on than just x + y = z.
This fascinating book explores the connections between chaos theory, physics, biology, and mathematics. Its award-winning computer graphics, optical illusions, and games illustrate the concept of self-similarity, a typical property of fractals. The author -- hailed by Publishers Weekly as a modern Lewis Carroll -- conveys memorable insights in the form of puns and puzzles. 1992 edition.
