Nonplussed! : mathematical proof of implausible ideas / Julian Havil.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Havil, Julian, 1952-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mathematical recreations.

Mathematics--Miscellanea.

Mathematics.

Paradox--Mathematics.

Paradox.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (213 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. ; Woodstock : Princeton University Press, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Math--the application of reasonable logic to reasonable assumptions--usually produces reasonable results. But sometimes math generates astonishing paradoxes--conclusions that seem completely unreasonable or just plain impossible but that are nevertheless demonstrably true. Did you know that a losing sports team can become a winning one by adding worse players than its opponents? Or that the thirteenth of the month is more likely to be a Friday than any other day? Or that cones can roll unaided uphill? In Nonplussed!--a delightfully eclectic collection of paradoxes from many different areas of math--popular-math writer Julian Havil reveals the math that shows the truth of these and many other unbelievable ideas. Nonplussed! pays special attention to problems from probability and statistics, areas where intuition can easily be wrong. These problems include the vagaries of tennis scoring, what can be deduced from tossing a needle, and disadvantageous games that form winning combinations. Other chapters address everything from the historically important Torricelli's Trumpet to the mind-warping implications of objects that live on high dimensions. Readers learn about the colorful history and people associated with many of these problems in addition to their mathematical proofs. Nonplussed! will appeal to anyone with a calculus background who enjoys popular math books or puzzles.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1. Three Tennis Paradoxes

Chapter 2. The Uphill Roller

Chapter 3. The Birthday Paradox

Chapter 4. The Spin of a Table

Chapter 5. Derangements

Chapter 6. Conway's Chequerboard Army

Chapter 7. The Toss of a Needle

Chapter 8. Torricelli's Trumpet

Chapter 9. Nontransitive Effects

Chapter 10. A Pursuit Problem

Chapter 11. Parrondo's Games

Chapter 12. Hyperdimensions

Chapter 13. Friday the 13th

Chapter 14. Fractran

The Motifs

Appendix A. The Inclusion-Exclusion Principle

Appendix B. The Binomial Inversion Formula

Appendix C. Surface Area and Arc Length

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612722004

9781400837380

1400837383

9781282722002

128272200X

9780691120560

0691120560

OCLC:

671644096