The Universe and the Teacup - Hardcover

Cole, K.C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0151003238 ISBN 13: 9780151003235

Publisher: Thomson Learning, 1998

Synopsis

Filled with "a thousand fascinating facts and shrewd observations (Martin Gardner, Los Angeles Times), this "beguiling and lucid book" (San Francisco Chronicle) demonstrates how the truth and beauty of everything, from relativity to rainbows, is all in the numbers. Line drawings.

About this title

Review:

"Pure mathematics," Albert Einstein once remarked, "is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas." In The Universe and the Teacup, Los Angeles Times science writer K. C. Cole discusses some of the ways this "poetry" can be used to look at science and other realms of experience.

Mathematics, Cole explains, enables us to "translate the complexity of the world into manageable patterns," whether we're trying to comprehend the risks of smoking or the usefulness of DNA matches in criminal investigations. Cole also looks at how mathematical principles apply inunexpected fields. Without relying on a single equation, Cole's gently humorous prose helps make mathematics unthreatening to laypeople, enabling them to better understand the world in which they live. --Amazon.com

Review:

"Even the most confirmed mathophobe should find it an easy read, and possibly even a fascinating one. . . . Science journalism can be a frustrating craft. . . . K. C. Cole of the Los Angeles Times is one of the best."-The Boston Globe "A most unusual book, one with no math in it at all . . . Cole's beguiling and lucid book provides fresh insights into the crucial role that mathematics plays in science. . . . With lighthearted wit, she makes clear how numbers alone can explain so much but never all."-San Francisco Chronicle "Cole helps to teach us that math is more than just a tool to balance our checkbooks. It's the key to understanding the beauty of a rainbow and to discovering our true place in the universe."-Astronomy

About this edition

• Publisher: Thomson Learning
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0151003238
• ISBN 13: 9780151003235
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 214