Record Display for the EPA National Library Catalog
RECORD NUMBER: 299 OF 334Main Title | The mathematical tourist : snapshots of modern mathematics / | |||||||||||
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Author | Peterson, Ivars, | |||||||||||
Publisher | W.H. Freeman and Company, | |||||||||||
Year Published | 1988 | |||||||||||
OCLC Number | 17202382 | |||||||||||
ISBN | 0716719533; 9780716719533; 0716720647; 9780716720645 | |||||||||||
Subjects | Mathematics--Popular works ; Mathematisches Problem ; Unterhaltungsmathematik ; Beispielsammlung ; Mathematisches Problem--(DE-588)4114530-6 ; Unterhaltungsmathematik--(DE-588)4124357-2 | |||||||||||
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Collation | xv, 240 pages, 12 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm | |||||||||||
Notes | Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-224) and index. |
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Contents Notes | In this work the author, a science journalist, guides us through the world of modern mathematics and the new developments in the field. Explorations. Maps of a different color ; Logging on ; Pure power -- Prime Pursuits. Heads or tails? ; Prime properties ; Hunting for big primes ; Breaking up is hard to do ; Unpacking a knapsack -- Twists of Space. Fairy-tale tents ; Getting to the surface ; Bites in a doughnut ; Bubbling away ; Knotty problems -- Shadows From Higher Dimensions. Flatland and beyond ; Shadows and slices ; A global view ; The classification game ; Linear gymnastics -- Ants in Labyrinths. The language of nature ; Taming mathematical monsters ; Packing it in ; Fractal excursions ; Sticky stuff -- The Dragons of Chaos. Steps in time ; The stranger side of squares ; The computer as microscope ; Zeroing in on chaos ; Sudden bursts and quick escapes -- Life Stories. The game of life ; Going with the flow ; Forest fires, barnacles, and trickling oil ; Matters of state ; The fivefold way -- In Abstract Terrain. Keeping secrets ; The burden of proof. |