eMailOrder: Mathematics Books
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- The Joy of Pi, by David Blatner, (hardcover) published by Viking 1997
- An elementary, intriguing array of results about pi and the history of this ancient number, which still holds mysteries that continue to baffle the best mathematical minds.
- Fermat's Enigma, by Simon Singh (hardcover) (paperback), published by Walker 1997
- Aptly subtitled "The Quest to Solve the world's Greatest
Mathematical Problem", this account is a testimony to the courage
and intelligence of its hero, who very recently worked in secret
for seven years, successfully attacking one of the most difficult
and well known problems in all of mathematics. The enigma is
clearly presented, and its 350 year history is brought to life.
- The Man Who Loved Only Numbers, by Paul Hoffman, (hardcover) published by Hyperion 1998
- A fascinating biography of a lovably eccentric mathematician, Paul
Erdos. Living literally out of a suitcase, constantly traveling
and doing mathematics, Erdos coauthored papers with more
mathematicians than any other human being, over 484. Especially
interesting and clear are the accounts of his work in the theory
of numbers. This book supplements Fermat's Enigma in its
portrayal of the culture of mathematics and mathematicians.
(Erdos' mathematical life style was the complete antithesis of
that of Andrew Wiles, who solved Fermat's enigma.)
- The Book of Numbers, by John Conway and Richard Guy, published by
Springer-Verlag, 1996
- The authors present novel and surprising results about different
varieties of numbers, with enough elementary discussions to provide readers
with a high school background their money's worth. Prime numbers,
Fibonacci numbers, Catalan numbers, Fermat numbers, imaginary numbers,
infinite numbers, games, counting, patterns, etc. are included.
The range of material includes much that will appeal to the expert as
well as the novice.
- The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers, by David Wells,
published by Penguin, USA, 1998.
- This lovely book will appeal to all ages. Starting with -1 and i,
numbers which were mysterious to those who first had to deal with them, the
author works through various numbers in decimal form and then, largely,
positive integers, in order. For each entry, a delightful story of its
importance or some numerical oddity is provided. Scattered throughout is
historical, numeric, and higher mathematical information. Yet this book
really will be of interest to anyone interested in numbers, from age ten,
say, on up. It is the single most broadly interesting mathematical gift
this reporter has read. A particular advantage is the capsule nature of
the entries: a reader can dip into any part of the book and pick up some
arithmetic excitement in a moment's time.
- My Brain is Open (The Mathematical Journeys of Paul Erdos), by Bruce Schechter, Simon & Schuster, 1998.
- This beautiful book is an intellectually rich biography of one of
the world's most prolific mathematicians. Amusingly, inoffensively and
highly idiosyncratic, Erdos worked on hard problems in apparently simple
fields, taking rather easily explained concepts and forging powerful new
results and tools with a speed which astounded professional colleagues.
Bruce Schechter does a magnificent job of clearly explaining what Erdos did
and the many connections between his work and other areas of mathematics
and, more generally, science. Through frequent digressions he paints both
a humane portrait of a uniquely caring individual and a thumbnail sketch of
western political oppression around the world during the first sixty years
of the 20th century.
This book also will introduce readers, in a gentle and interesting
manner, to the world of numbers and mathematics. The nature of prime
numbers and how they are distributed, famous conjectures such as
Goldbach's, topics in graph theory and combinatorial mathematics,
and more are made accessible to the reader. The account of the
controversy surrounding the "elementary" proof of the Prime Number Theorem
benefits from the author's access to newly available material, and will be
of interest to both laypeople and mathematicians. Other topics, introduced
through natural association with the subject at hand, include Godel's
Theorem, Russell's paradox, the Monty Hall problem (made famous by
Marilyn vos Savant), the nature of infinity, proving theorems by
contradiction, and the normal distribution.
Though Erdos is known to many for his unusual life style and
behavior, this book does not dwell on the bizarre but weaves such facets
of his life into the more exciting mathematical development of the person.
This biography ranks among the very best of the numerous works about
mathematicians which I have read over the past 45 years. Arguably, more
has been written about Erdos in the past decade or two than about any other
mathematician. Despite this, Schechter's new contribution is an
outstanding addition to the literature.
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