The Heart of Mathematics: An Invitation to Effective Thinking (Key Curriculum Press) - Hardcover

Starbird, Michael; Burger, Edward B.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1118156595 ISBN 13: 9781118156599

Publisher: Wiley, 2012

Synopsis

Transform your mathematics course into an engaging and mind-opening experience for even your most math-phobic students. Now in its Fourth Edition, The Heart of Mathematics: An Invitation to Effective Thinking succeeds at reaching non-math, non-science-oriented majors, encouraging them to discover the mathematics inherent in the world around them. Infused with the authors' humor and enthusiasm throughout, The Heart of Mathematics introduces students to the most important and interesting ideas in mathematics while inspiring them to actively engage in mathematical thinking.

About this title

About the Author

Dr. Edward Burger is a professor mathematics at Williams College in Williamstown, MA. He received his BA from Connecticut College and his PhD from University of Texas at Austin.
He has received numerous awards including: the Nelson Bushnell Prize, for Scholarship and Teaching, Williams College, being listed among the top 100 best Math Teachers in the "100 Best of America", Reader's Digest's Annual Special Issue. He has also received the Award of Excellence, for "educational mathematics videos that break new ground", from Technology & Learning magazine.
His research interests include Algebraic Number Theory, Diophantine Analysis, padic Analysis, Geometry of Numbers, and the Theory of Continued Fractions.

From the Back Cover

What mathematics can offer students: an enriched and transformed life.
--A note from the authors, Edward B. Burger and Michael Starbird

Mathematicians encounter surprising and fascinating ideas such as infinity, chaos, fractals, the fourth dimension, rubber sheet geometry, coincidences, and other intriguing topics on a daily basis. These ideas portray effective strategies in everyday thinking that add value to how people make real-life decisions in areas of love and business to art and politics. We wrote The Heart of Mathematics: An Invitation to Effective Thinking to make truly big and beautiful ideas accessible to all students and to give instructors the chance to offer their students delectable math morsels.

Reactions to The Heart of Mathematics: An Invitation to Effective Thinking

FROM FACULTY:

• "Heart of Mathematics is easily the best liberal arts math textbook I've ever used."
  --Shippensburg University
• "This is very possibly the best mathematics for the non-mathematician book that I've seen."
  --American Mathematical Monthly
• "For me this book has changed our 'liberal arts math class' from a dreaded assignment to something that is lively and interesting every time."
  --Buffalo State College

FROM STUDENTS:

• "This is far and away the best mathematics textbook I've ever used."
• "This class was not like any other math class. It allowed me to become creative and imaginative."
• "This math book is incredible. It teaches you math in the purest sense of the word. Also, it was funny and challenging."

The goal of education is to improve students' ability to think, and The Heart of Mathematics does just that--inviting students to think about how mind-changing ideas can transform lives.

From the Inside Flap

What mathematics can offer students: an enriched and transformed life.
—A note from the authors, Edward B. Burger and Michael Starbird

Mathematicians encounter surprising and fascinating ideas such as infinity, chaos, fractals, the fourth dimension, rubber sheet geometry, coincidences, and other intriguing topics on a daily basis. These ideas portray effective strategies in everyday thinking that add value to how people make real-life decisions in areas of love and business to art and politics. We wrote The Heart of Mathematics: An Invitation to Effective Thinking to make truly big and beautiful ideas accessible to all students and to give instructors the chance to offer their students delectable math morsels.

Reactions to The Heart of Mathematics: An Invitation to Effective Thinking:

FROM FACULTY:

• "Heart of Mathematics is easily the best liberal arts math textbook I've ever used."
  —Shippensburg University
• "This is very possibly the best mathematics for the non-mathematician book that I've seen."
  —American Mathematical Monthly
• "For me this book has changed our 'liberal arts math class' from a dreaded assignment to something that is lively and interesting every time."
  —Buffalo State College

FROM STUDENTS:

• "This is far and away the best mathematics textbook I've ever used."
• "This class was not like any other math class. It allowed me to become creative and imaginative."
• "This math book is incredible. It teaches you math in the purest sense of the word. Also, it was funny and challenging."

The goal of education is to improve students' ability to think, and The Heart of Mathematics does just that—inviting students to think about how mind-changing ideas can transform lives.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1118156595
• ISBN 13: 9781118156599
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 4
• Number of pages: 928