My Account Log in

1 option

A mathematician's scrapbook highlights and surprises from across a career William Dunham

Springer Nature - Springer Mathematics and Statistics (R0) eBooks 2026 English International Available online

View online
Format:
Book
Author/Creator:
Dunham, William, 1947- author.
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
Mathematics.
Genre:
miscellanies.
Trivia and miscellanea
Trivia and miscellanea.
Physical Description:
1 online resource
Place of Publication:
Cham, Switzerland Birkhäuser [2026]
Summary:
"In studying mathematics, one can encounter surprises, whether in results that seem astonishing or in proofs that lead down unexpected paths. Over his career, the author came across many such gems. This book includes his favorites and invites readers to experience the same sense of wonder they inspired in him. Here are results about number theory, Euclidean geometry, trigonometry, algebra, and infinite series, with stories from the history of mathematics added to the mix. There are theorems from such masters as Euler, Newton, and Ramanujan, while some lesser known mathematicians get their moments in the spotlight. Although the author does not avoid technical details, his narrative style makes the book accessible to anyone with an interest in mathematics"-- Springer Nature Link
Contents:
Simple things
The infinitude of primes : Euclid, Eratosthenes, and Erdős
On the twin prime conjecture
On the twin composite conjecture
A prime family resemblance
Once more, into the primes…
Your humble servant, I. Newton
Newton’s (original) method-or-though this be method, yet there is madness in’t
The first great max/min problem
The roots of all evil
√2 and a shaggy-dog story
A Ramanujan morsel
The biblical value of π … or not
The power of powers of 3
The demonic harmonic series
Euler sums a series …
The math matriarchs of Bryn Mawr
The triangle inequality in Euclid
Isosceles triangles
My favorite proof of Morley’s theorem (as of this morning)
Euclid, Euler, and the regular solids
The magic of commutativity
Wondrous formulae
Proving is believing
Mathematics and the humanities
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index
Online resource; title from PDF title page (Springer Nature Link, viewed July 8, 2026)
Other Format:
Print version Dunham, William, 1947- Mathematician's scrapbook
ISBN:
9783031814181
3031814185
OCLC:
1602207144
Access Restriction:
Restricted for use by site license

The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.

Find

Home Release notes

My Account

Shelf Request an item Bookmarks Fines and fees Settings

Guides

Using the Find catalog Using Articles+ Using your account