50 Mathematical Ideas You Really Need to Know - Hardcover

Crilly, Tony

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1847240089 ISBN 13: 9781847240088

Publisher: Quercus Publishing, 2007

Synopsis

Who invented zero? Why 60 seconds in a minute? How big is infinity? Where do parallel lines meet? And can a butterfly's wings really cause a storm on the far side of the world? In 50 Mathematical Ideas You Really Need to Know, Professor Tony Crilly explains in 50 clear and concise essays the mathematical concepts - ancient and modern, theoretical and practical, everyday and esoteric - that allow us to understand and shape the world around us. Packed with diagrams, examples and anecdotes, this book is the perfect overview of this often daunting but always essential subject. For once, mathematics couldn't be simpler. Contents include: Origins of mathematics, From Egyptian fractions to Roman numerals; Pi and primes, Fibonacci numbers and the golden ratio; What calculus, Statistics and algebra can actually do; The very real uses of imaginary numbers; The Big Ideas of relativity, Chaos theory, Fractals, Genetics and hyperspace; The reasoning behind Sudoku and code cracking, Lotteries and gambling, Money management and compound interest; Solving of Fermat's last theorem and the million-dollar question of the Riemann hypothesis.

About this title

About the Author

Tony Crilly is Reader in Mathematical Sciences at Middlesex University, having previously taught at the University of Michigan, the City University in Hong Kong, and the Open University. His principal research interest is the history of mathematics, and he has written and edited many works on fractals, chaos and computing. He is the author of the acclaimed biography of the English mathematician Arthur Cayley.

From the Inside Flap

Who invented zero? Why 60 seconds in a minute? How big is infinity? Where do parallel lines meet? And can a butterfly's wings really cause a storm on the far side of the world?
In 50 Mathematical Ideas You Really Need to Know, Professor Tony Crilly explains in 50 clear and concise essays the mathematical concepts - ancient and modern, theoretical and practical, everyday and esoteric - that allow us to understand and shape the world around us.
Beginning with zero itself and concluding with the last great unsolved problem, 50 Ideas:
Introduces the origins of mathematics, from Egyptian fractions to Roman numerals; Explains the near-mystical significance of pi and primes, Fibonacci numbers and the golden ratio; Tells you the things they didn't at school - what calculus, statistics and algebra can actually do, and the very real uses of imaginary numbers; Illuminates the Big Ideas of relativity, chaos theory, fractals, genetics and hyperspace; Reveals the unspoken reasoning behind Sudoku and code cracking, lotteries and gambling, money management and compound interest; Explores the latest mind-shattering developments, including the solving of Fermat's last theorem and the million-dollar question of the Riemann hypothesis.
Packed with diagrams, examples and anecdotes, 50 Mathematical Ideas is the perfect overview of this often daunting but always essential subject. For once, mathematics couldn't be simpler.

Edition details

• Publisher: Quercus Publishing
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1847240089
• ISBN 13: 9781847240088
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208