Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

The Heart of Mathematics: An Invitation to Effective Thinking

by: Edward B. Burger (Williams College); Michael Starbird ( The University of Texas at Austin )

The Heart of Mathematics: An Invitation to Effective Thinking

by: Edward B. Burger (Williams College); Michael Starbird ( The University of Texas at Austin )

ISBN 13:
9780470412879
ISBN 10:
0470412879
Edition: 2nd
Format: Hardcover
Copyright: 06/01/2008
Publisher: WILEY
Newer Edition

Rent

Sorry, this item is currently unavailable.

Note: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.

Extend or Purchase Your Rental at Any Time

Need to keep your rental past your due date? At any time before your due date you can extend or purchase your rental through your account.

Summary

The Heart of Mathematics: An invitation to effective thinking --now in its second edition--succeeds at reaching non-math, non-science-oriented readers and encourages them to discover the mathematics inherent in the world around them. Infused throughout with the authors' humor and enthusiasm, The Heart of Mathematics introduces readers to the most important and interesting ideas in mathematics while inspiring them to actively engage in mathematical thinking.

But First, a Word from our Sponsors	p. ix
Welcome!	p. xi
Surfing the Book	p. xv
Fun and Games: An Introduction to Rigorous Thought	p. 2
Silly Stories Each with a Moral	p. 4
Conundrums that Evoke Techniques of Effective Thinking
Nudges	p. 4
Leading Questions and Hints for Resolving the Stories
The Punch Lines	p. 18
Solutions and Further Commentary
From Play to Power	p. 27
Discovering Strategies of Thought for Life
Number Contemplation	p. 38
Counting	p. 40
How the Pigeonhole Principle Leads to Precision Through Estimation
Numberical Patterns in Nature	p. 49
Discovering the Beauty of the Fibonacci Numbers
Prime Cuts of Numbers	p. 64
How the Primes Numbers are the Building Blocks of All Natural Numbers
Crazy Clocks and Checking Out Bars	p. 82
Cyclical Clock Arithmetic and Bar Codes
Public Secret Codes adn How to Become a Spy	p. 95
Encrypting Information Using Modula Arithmetic and Primes
The Irrational Side of Numbers	p. 110
Are There Numbers Beyond Fractions?
Get Real	p. 121
The Point of Decimals and Pinpointing Numbers on the Real Line
Infinity	p. 136
Beyond Numbers	p. 138
What Does Infinity Mean?
Comparing the Infinite	p. 145
Pairing Up Collections via a One-to-One Corerspondence
The Missing Member	p. 162
Georg Cantor Answers: Are Some Infinities Larger Than Others?
Geometric Gems	p. 206
Pythagoras and His Hypotenuse	p. 208
How a Puzzle Leads to the Proof of one of the Gems of Mathematics
A View of an Art Gallery	p. 218
Using Computational Geometry to Place Security Cameras in Musuems
The Sexiest Rectangle	p. 232
Finding Aesthetics in Life, Art, and Math Through the Golden Rectangle
Soothing Symmetry and Spinning Pinwheels	p. 249
Can a Floor be Tiled without any Repeating Pattern?
The Platonic Solids Turn Amorous	p. 269
Discovering the Symmetry and Interconnections Among the Platonic Solds
The Shape of Reality?	p. 289
How Straight Lines Can Bend in Non-Euclidean Geometries
The Fouther Dimension	p. 307
Can You See It?
Contortions of Space	p. 326
Rubger Sheet Geometry	p. 328
Discovering the Topological Idea of Equivalence by Distortion
The Band That Wouldn't Stop Playing	p. 46
Experimenting with the Mobius Band and Klein Bottle
Feeling Edgy?	p. 359
Exploring Relationships Among Vertices, Edges, and Faces
Knots and Links	p. 374
Untangling Ropes and Rings
Fixed Points, Hot Loops, and Rainy Days	p. 389
How the Certainty of Fixed Points Implies Certain Weather Phenomena
Chaos and Fractals	p. 402
Images	p. 404
Viewing a Gallery of Fractals
The Dynamics of Change	p. 412
Can Change be Modeled by Repeated Applications of Simple Processes?
The Infinitely Detailed Beuty of Fractals	p. 430
How to Create Workds of Ifinite Intricacy THrough Repeated PRocesses
The Mysterious Art of Imaginary Fractals	p. 458
Creating Juila and Mandelbrot Sets by Stepping Out in the Complex Plane
Predetermined Chase	p. 482
How Repeated SImple Processes Result in Utter Chaos
Between Dimnsions	p. 503
Can the Dimensions of Fractals Fall Through the Cracks?
Taming Uncertainty	p. 514
Chance Surprises	p. 516
Some Scenarioos Involving Chance that Confound our Intuition

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

The Heart of Mathematics: An Invitation to Effective Thinking

The Heart of Mathematics: An Invitation to Effective Thinking

9780470412879

0470412879

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

Write a Review

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

The Heart of Mathematics: An Invitation to Effective Thinking

The Heart of Mathematics: An Invitation to Effective Thinking

9780470412879

0470412879

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

Write a Review

Related Products