Coincidences Chaos/Math Jazz Pa

by Burger,B. Edward

• ISBN13: 9780393329315
• ISBN10: 0393329313
• Edition: 00
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-10-17
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Summary

"A profusely illustrated, bemusingly unorthodox introduction to math."- Booklist A book for the eternally curious, Coincidences fuses a professor's understanding of the hidden mathematical skeleton of the universe with the sensibility of a stand-up comedian, making life's big questions accessible and compelling. Each chapter opens with a surprising insight-not a mathematic formula, but a common observation. From there, the authors leapfrog over math and anecdote toward profound ideas about nature, art, and music. Coincidences is a book for lovers of puzzles and posers of outlandish questions, lapsed math aficionados and the formula-phobic alike. "I once had a math teacher who used to throw books at us. If only this had been one of them."-Ben Longstaff, New Scientist

Author Biography

Edward B. Burger is professor of mathematics and chair at Williams College Michael Starbird is a University Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas

Table of Contents

Opening Thoughts	p. ix
Understanding Uncertainty Coincidences, Chaos, and Confusion	p. 1
Unbridled Coincidences Likelihood, Lady Luck, and Lady Love	p. 3
Chaos Reigns Why We Can't Predict the Future	p. 20
Digesting Life's Data Statistical Surprises	p. 42
Embracing Figures Sensing Secrecy, Magnificent Magnitudes, and Nature's Numbers	p. 63
Secrets Held, Secrets Revealed Cryptography Decrypted	p. 65
Sizing up Numbers How Many? How Big? How Quick?	p. 78
A Synergy Between Nature and Number A Search for Pattern	p. 100
Exploring Aesthetics Sexy Rectangles, Fiery Fractals, and Contortions of Space	p. 121
From Precise Beauty to Pure Chaos Picturing Aesthetics Through the Lens of Mathematics	p. 123
Origami for the Origamically Challenged From Paper Folding to Computers and Fiery Fractals	p. 146
A Twisted Turn in an Amorphous Universe An Exploration of an Elasticized World	p. 166
Transcending Reality The Fourth Dimension and Infinity	p. 199
The Universe Next Door The Magic of the Fourth Dimension	p. 201
Moving Beyond the Confines of Our Nutshell A journey Into Infinity	p. 231
In Search of Something Still Larger A Journey Beyond Infinity	p. 246
Closing Thoughts	p. 267
Acknowledgments	p. 268
Further Resources	p. 269
Permissions	p. 270
Index	p. 271
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.