'I used to think math was no fun 'cause I couldn't see how it was done. Now Euler's my hero. For, I now see why zero equals e[pi] i+1' - Paul Nahin, electrical engineer. In the mid-eighteenth century, Swiss-born mathematician Leonhard Euler developed a formula so innovative and complex that it conti[...]
Traces the development of modern pursuit theory, from its classical analytical beginnings to the present day, and provides challenging puzzles with solutions, anecdotes, and entertaining facts, in a first comprehensive history of a fascinating area of mathematics.[...]
Some probability problems are so difficult that they stump the smartest mathematicians. But even the hardest of these problems can often be solved with a computer and a Monte Carlo simulation, in which a random-number generator simulates a physical process, such as a million rolls of a pair of dice.[...]
What is the best way to photograph a speeding bullet? Why does light move through glass in the least amount of time possible? How can lost hikers find their way out of a forest? What will rainbows look like in the future? Why do soap bubbles have a shape that gives them the least area? By combining [...]
What does quilting have to do with electric circuit theory? The answer is just one of the fascinating ways that best-selling popular math writer Paul Nahin illustrates the deep interplay of math and physics in the world around us in his latest book of challenging mathematical puzzles, "Mrs. Perkins'[...]
How do technicians repair broken communications cables at the bottom of the ocean without actually seeing them? What's the likelihood of plucking a needle out of a haystack the size of the Earth? And is it possible to use computers to create a universal library of everything ever written or every ph[...]
Today complex numbers have such widespread practical use - from electrical engineering to aeronautics - that few people would expect the story behind their derivation to be filled with adventure and enigma. In "An Imaginary Tale", Paul Nahin tells the 2000-year-old history of one of mathematics' mos[...]
I used to think math was no fun 'Cause I couldn't see how it was done Now Euler's my hero For I now see why zero Equals e[pi] i+1 - Paul Nahin, electrical engineer. In the mid-eighteenth century, Swiss-born mathematician Leonhard Euler developed a formula so innovative and complex that it continues [...]
Boolean algebra, also called Boolean logic, is at the heart of the electronic circuitry in everything we use - from our computers and cars, to our kitchen gadgets and home appliances. How did a system of mathematics established in the Victorian era become the basis for such incredible technological [...]
Some probability problems are so difficult that they stump the smartest mathematicians. But even the hardest of these problems can often be solved with a computer and a Monte Carlo simulation, in which a random-number generator simulates a physical process, such as a million rolls of a pair of dice.[...]
What's the point of calculating definite integrals since you can't possibly do them all?. What makes doing the specific integrals in this book of value aren't the specific answers we'll obtain, but rather the methods we'll use in obtaining those answers; methods you can use for evaluating the integ[...]