The Mathematical Universe An Alphabetical Journey Through the Great Proofs, Problems, and Personalities

by Dunham, William

• ISBN13: 9780471536567
• ISBN10: 0471536563
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1994-08-16
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

"Dunham writes for nonspecialists, and they will enjoy his piquant anecdotes and amusing asides -- Booklist "Artfully, Dunham conducts a tour of the mathematical universe. . . he believes these ideas to be accessible to the audience he wants to reach, and he writes so that they are." -- Nature "If you want to encourage anyone's interest in math, get them The Mathematical Universe." * New Scientist

Author Biography

WILLIAM DUNHAM, Ph.D., is the Truman Koehler Professor of Mathematics at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The author of the acclaimed Journey Through Genius, he was awarded the 1993 George Polya Award of the Mathematical Association of America for excellence in expository writing about mathematics. He is also the recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Table of Contents

Preface	iv
Acknowledgments	vi
Arithmetic	1	(10)
Bernoulli Trials	11	(12)
Circle	23	(14)
Differential Calculus	37	(14)
Euler	51	(14)
Fermat	65	(10)
Greek Geometry	75	(14)
Hypotenuse	89	(14)
Isoperimetric Problem	103	(12)
Justification	115	(14)
Knighted Newton	129	(14)
Lost Leibniz	143	(16)
Mathematical Personality	159	(8)
Natural Logarithm	167	(12)
Origins	179	(14)
Prime Number Theorem	193	(8)
Quotient	201	(12)
Russell's Paradox	213	(12)
Spherical Surface	225	(12)
Trisection	237	(12)
Utility	249	(12)
Venn Diagram	261	(2)
Where Are the Women?	263	(10)
X - Y Plane	273	(14)
Z	287	(9)
Afterword	296	(1)
Notes	297	(12)
Index	309