Group Theory in the Bedroom, and Other Mathematical Diversions

by Hayes, Brian

• ISBN13: 9780809052196
• ISBN10: 0809052199
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-04-01
• Publisher: Hill and Wang

Summary

An Award-Winning Essayist Plies His Craft Brian Hayes is one of the most accomplished essayists active todaya claim supported not only by his prolific and continuing high-quality output but also by such honors as the National Magazine Award for his commemorative Y2K essay titled "Clock of Ages," published in the November/December 1999 issue ofThe Sciencesmagazine. (The also-rans that year included Tom Wolfe, Verlyn Klinkenborg, and Oliver Sacks.) Hayes's work in this genre has also appeared in such anthologies asThe BestAmerican Magazine Writing, The Best American Science and NatureWriting,andThe Norton Reader. Here he offers us a selection of his most memorable and accessible piecesincluding "Clock of Ages"embellishing them with an overall, scene-setting preface, reconfigured illustrations, and a refreshingly self-critical "Afterthoughts" section appended to each essay.

Author Biography

Brian Hayes writes the “Computing Science” column for American Scientist magazine, where he is a former editor in chief. His previous book, Infrastructure: A Field Guide to the Industrial Landscape, was published in 2005.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Clock of Ages	p. 3
Random Resources	p. 23
Follow the Money	p. 41
Inventing the Genetic Code	p. 65
Statistics of Deadly Quarrels	p. 89
Dividing the Continent	p. 107
On the Teeth of Wheels	p. 125
The Easiest Hard Problem	p. 143
Naming Names	p. 161
Third Base	p. 179
Identity Crisis	p. 201
Group Theory in the Bedroom	p. 219
Further Reading	p. 239
Index	p. 255
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