Turtle Geometry presents an innovative program of mathematical discovery that demonstrates how the effective use of personal computers can profoundly change the nature of a student's contact with mathematics. Using this book and a few simple computer programs, students can explore the properties of space by following an imaginary turtle across the screen. The concept of turtle geometry grew out of the Logo Group at MIT. Directed by Seymour Papert, author of Mindstorms, this group has done extensive work with preschool children, high school students and university undergraduates.
This is a mathematics book, not a programming book, although it explains Pascal to beginners. It is aimed at high school students and undergraduates with a strong interest in mathematics, and teachers looking for fresh ideas. It is full of diverse mathematical ideas requiring little background. It includes a large number of challenging problems, many of which illustrate how numerical computation leads to conjectures which can then be proved by mathematical reasoning. It is assumed that readers have a PC at their disposal.
Numbers surround us. Just try to make it through a day without using any. It's impossible: telephone numbers, calendars, volume settings, shoe sizes, speed limits, weights, street numbers, microwave timers, TV channels, and the list goes on and on. The many advancements and branches of mathematics were developed through the centuries as people encountered problems and relied upon math to solve them. For instance: What timely invention was tampered with by the Caesars and almost perfected by a pope? Why did ten days vanish in September of 1752? How did Queen Victoria shorten the Sunday sermons at chapel? What important invention caused the world to be divided into time zones? What simple math problem caused the Mars Climate Orbiter to burn up in the Martian atmosphere? What common unit of measurement was originally based on the distance from the equator to the North Pole? Does water always boil at 212? Fahrenheit? What do Da Vinci's Last Supper and the Parthenon have in common? Why is a computer glitch called a "bug"? It's amazing how ten simple digits can be used in an endless number of ways to benefit man. The development of these ten digits and their many uses is the fascinating story you hold in your hands: Exploring the World of Mathematics.
Exploring Mathematics: Investigations for Elementary School Teachers is a text designed to give readers a highly conceptual understanding of mathematics topics essential for elementary school teaching. The body of material presented was assembled though considerable experimentation and collaboration among the authors over the past ten years.Using a 'less is more' approach, this book's basic philosophy centers on the idea that the learning of mathematics takes time and is best learned from multiple viewpoints and engaging problems. To meet this goal, the development of mathematical reasoning is introduced primarily through the use of manipulatives, models and visual aids for problem solving. The practical, field-tested, in-depth material and activities found in Exploring Mathematics makes this an ideal text for an upper-division mathematics course that serves as a culminating experience for elementary school teachers.
This essential companion to Chaitin's successful books The Unknowable and The Limits of Mathematics, presents the technical core of his theory of program-size complexity. The two previous volumes are more concerned with applications to meta-mathematics. LISP is used to present the key algorithms and to enable computer users to interact with the authors proofs and discover for themselves how they work. The LISP code for this book is available at the author's Web site together with a Java applet LISP interpreter. "No one has looked deeper and farther into the abyss of randomness and its role in mathematics than Greg Chaitin. This book tells you everything hes seen. Don miss it." John Casti, Santa Fe Institute, Author of Goedel: A Life of Logic.'
Based on the ontology and semantics of algebra, the computer algebra system Magma enables users to rapidly formulate and perform calculations in abstract parts of mathematics. Edited by the principal designers of the program, this book explores Magma. Coverage ranges from number theory and algebraic geometry, through representation theory and group theory to discrete mathematics and graph theory. Includes case studies describing computations underpinning new theoretical results.
Learn math by getting creative with code! Use the Python programming language to transform learning high school-level math topics like algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus! Math Adventures with Python will show you how to harness the power of programming to keep math relevant and fun. With the aid of the Python programming language, you'll learn how to visualize solutions to a range of math problems as you use code to explore key mathematical concepts like algebra, trigonometry, matrices, and cellular automata. Once you've learned the programming basics like loops and variables, you'll write your own programs to solve equations quickly, make cool things like an interactive rainbow grid, and automate tedious tasks like factoring numbers and finding square roots. You'll learn how to write functions to draw and manipulate shapes, create oscillating sine waves, and solve equations graphically. You'll also learn how to: - Draw and transform 2D and 3D graphics with matrices - Make colorful designs like the Mandelbrot and Julia sets with complex numbers - Use recursion to create fractals like the Koch snowflake and the Sierpinski triangle - Generate virtual sheep that graze on grass and multiply autonomously - Crack secret codes using genetic algorithms As you work through the book's numerous examples and increasingly challenging exercises, you'll code your own solutions, create beautiful visualizations, and see just how much more fun math can be!
From the winner of the Turing Award and the Abel Prize, an introduction to computational complexity theory, its connections and interactions with mathematics, and its central role in the natural and social sciences, technology, and philosophy Mathematics and Computation provides a broad, conceptual overview of computational complexity theory—the mathematical study of efficient computation. With important practical applications to computer science and industry, computational complexity theory has evolved into a highly interdisciplinary field, with strong links to most mathematical areas and to a growing number of scientific endeavors. Avi Wigderson takes a sweeping survey of complexity theory, emphasizing the field’s insights and challenges. He explains the ideas and motivations leading to key models, notions, and results. In particular, he looks at algorithms and complexity, computations and proofs, randomness and interaction, quantum and arithmetic computation, and cryptography and learning, all as parts of a cohesive whole with numerous cross-influences. Wigderson illustrates the immense breadth of the field, its beauty and richness, and its diverse and growing interactions with other areas of mathematics. He ends with a comprehensive look at the theory of computation, its methodology and aspirations, and the unique and fundamental ways in which it has shaped and will further shape science, technology, and society. For further reading, an extensive bibliography is provided for all topics covered. Mathematics and Computation is useful for undergraduate and graduate students in mathematics, computer science, and related fields, as well as researchers and teachers in these fields. Many parts require little background, and serve as an invitation to newcomers seeking an introduction to the theory of computation. Comprehensive coverage of computational complexity theory, and beyond High-level, intuitive exposition, which brings conceptual clarity to this central and dynamic scientific discipline Historical accounts of the evolution and motivations of central concepts and models A broad view of the theory of computation's influence on science, technology, and society Extensive bibliography
