The best writing on mathematics 2012 / Mircea Pitici, editor ; foreword by David Mumford.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Pitici, Mircea.

Mumford, David, 1937-

Series:

Best Writing on Mathematics

The Best Writing on Mathematics ; 3

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mathematics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (321 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This annual anthology brings together the year's finest mathematics writing from around the world. Featuring promising new voices alongside some of the foremost names in the field, The Best Writing on Mathematics 2012 makes available to a wide audience many articles not easily found anywhere else--and you don't need to be a mathematician to enjoy them. These writings offer surprising insights into the nature, meaning, and practice of mathematics today. They delve into the history, philosophy, teaching, and everyday occurrences of math, and take readers behind the scenes of today's hottest mathematical debates. Here Robert Lang explains mathematical aspects of origami foldings; Terence Tao discusses the frequency and distribution of the prime numbers; Timothy Gowers and Mario Livio ponder whether mathematics is invented or discovered; Brian Hayes describes what is special about a ball in five dimensions; Mark Colyvan glosses on the mathematics of dating; and much, much more. In addition to presenting the year's most memorable writings on mathematics, this must-have anthology includes a foreword by esteemed mathematician David Mumford and an introduction by the editor Mircea Pitici. This book belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in where math has taken us--and where it is headed.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Foreword: The Synergy of Pure and Applied Mathematics, of the Abstract and the Concrete / Mumford, David

Introduction / Pitici, Mircea

Why Math Works / Livio, Mario

Is Mathematics Discovered or Invented? / Gowers, Timothy

The Unplanned Impact of Mathematics / Rowlett, Peter

An Adventure in the Nth Dimension / Hayes, Brian

Structure and Randomness in the Prime Numbers / Tao, Terence

The Strangest Numbers in String Theory / Baez, John C. / Huerta, John

Mathematics Meets Photography: The Viewable Sphere / Swart, David / Torrence, Bruce

Dancing Mathematics and the Mathematics of Dance / Belcastro, Sarah-Marie / Schaffer, Karl

Can One Hear the Sound of a Theorem? / Schneiderman, Rob

Flat-Unfoldability and Woven Origami Tessellations / Lang, Robert J.

A Continuous Path from High School Calculus to University Analysis / Gowers, Timothy

Mathematics Teachers' Subtle, Complex Disciplinary Knowledge / Davis, Brent

How to Be a Good Teacher Is an Undecidable Problem / Flapan, Eririca

How Your Philosophy of Mathematics Impacts Your Teaching / Gold, Bonnie

Variables in Mathematics Education / Epp, Susanna S.

Bottom Line on Mathematics Education / Mumford, David / Garfunkel, Sol

History of Mathematics and History of Science Reunited? / Gray, Jeremy

Augustus De Morgan behind the Scenes / Simmons, Charlotte

Routing Problems: A Historical Perspective / Bruno, Giuseppe / Genovese, Andrea / Improta, Gennaro

The Cycloid and Jean Bernoulli / Alexanderson, Gerald L.

Was Cantor Surprised? / Gouvêa, Fernando Q.

Why Is There Philosophy of Mathematics at All? / Hacking, Ian

Ultimate Logic: To Infinity and Beyond / Elwes, Richard

Mating, Dating, and Mathematics: It's All in the Game / Colyvan, Mark

Contributors

Notable Texts

Acknowledgments

Credits

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781283656788

1283656787

9781400844678

1400844673

OCLC:

813535773