Product Description

A collection of curiosities of maths. It features such topics as the keys to unlocking the mysteries of Fermat's last theorem, the Poincare Conjecture, chaos theory, and the P/NP problem.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43039 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Features

• New
• Mint Condition
• Dispatch same day for order received before 12 noon
• Guaranteed packaging
• No quibbles returns

Review
'Stewart has served up the instructive equivalent of a Michelin-starred tasting menu, or perhaps a smorgasbord of appetisers. And of course, appetisers are designed to give you an appetite for more.' Tim Radford, Guardian

From the Back Cover
What's maths got to do with it? Delve into this curious cabinet to find out for yourself: - How to slice through your fingers without cutting them off - How to deduce without looking whether the rabbit under the hat is black or white - Why the M25 is shorted anti-clockwise than clockwise, and by how much - Why minus times minus equals plus - And how to extract that cherry from a cocktail glass (harder than you think!) Forget sudoku. For keeping your brain limber, nothing can compete with Professor Stewart's tasty assortment of numerical nibbles.

About the Author
Professor Stewart is best known for making Mathematics accessible and popular. He was awarded the Royal SocietyÂ’s Michael Faraday Medal for furthering the public understanding of science. His many popular science books include Does God Play Dice?, LifeÂ’s Other Secrets and Flatterland. He is the mathematics consultant for the New Scientist and is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick. In 2001 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Customer Reviews

fascinating
a well written and witty look at hundreds of mathematical puzzles, stories and jokes. I am a maths teacher and there is so much material here, it's amazing. I have already used a few of these with my classes and the puzzles have really caught their imagination. Highly recommended

although the solution to the problem on page 143 is wrong

A Must-Have for the lover of Puzzles and Logic
I picked this up to leaf through it the day it arrived, whilst already halfway through another book, AND I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN!
Packed full of puzzles, and funny quirks of number patterns, this book is for readers of all abilities who have an interest in numerical gymnastics.
The other main component of the book is the history of mathematical research and development, in which Stewart gives an insight into the discovery of numerous maths theories and laws. And whilst this is -- at times -- heavy going, it's delivered in bite-size sections, interspersed throughout the book, which itself is given in tiny portions, allowing the reader to pick up and read at any time.
Brilliantly collected puzzles and stories with easy-to-understand solutions and explanations, Stewart's jovial delivery makes this book an unalloyed pleasure. 10/10!
Andy Gibson, 35, Fleet, Hampshire.

Forget about what you thought about math in school
This book is full of little gems, it's a great little read.
Forget about what some of the other comments said, if your a average person with average abilities in mathematics you should easily understand this book just as I did, I'm no brain box. If your not too good at math then maybe give this a miss, otherwise pick this book up and give it a read.