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From John Allen Paulos, author of the widely
praised best-seller Innumeracy and the country's
best explainer of things mathematical, a delightful -- and
enriching -- exploration of the beauty and fascination of
numbers.
Part dictionary, part amusement, Beyond
Numeracy is nothing less than a crash course in clear
thinking about mathematics. Paulos continues his efforts
to whet our appetite for mathematics, curing math terror
and showing us that we often know more than we think we
do (many who credit their insights to "logic"
or "common sense" have been thinking math all
their lives without realizing it).
Beyond Numeracy presents in engrossing
fashion a broad range of mathematical concepts, from the
basic to the advanced, that have transformed our civilization.
Topics range from algebra, coincidence, game theory, non-Euclidean
geometry, calculus, and probability theory to such new areas
of mathematics as chaos, fractals, recursion, and complexity.
Paulos's conversational style and droll musings throughout
render mathematics both less daunting and far more accessible.
"A widespread misconception about mathematics,"
writes the author, "is that it is completely hierarchical
-- first arithmetic, then algebra, then calculus, then more
abstraction, then whatever... This belief in the totem pole
nature of mathematics isn't true, but it prevents many people
who did poorly in seventh-grade, high school, or even college
mathematics from picking up a popular book on the subject.
Often very 'advanced' mathematical ideas are more intuitive
and comprehensible than are certain areas of elementary
algebra."
In demystifying his subject, Paulos examines
topics chosen to both entertain and educate. For example:
- We learn what the mathematical basis
of coincidence is in part by addressing the question of
how many intermediates it takes to link two strangers
sitting together on an airplane. (Ninety-nine times out
of 100 they will be linked by two or fewer.)
- We master in simple terms what chaos
theory is by coming to see why the U.S. Postal Service,
the human circulatory system, and the local ecology are
all subject to unpredictable variation.
- We understand better the number pi when
the author poses -- and discusses -- this question: If
s string is tied around the equator, how much extra string
would have to be added so that the extended string would
be one foot above the earth's surface all around the equator?
(The answer is a little more than six feet.)
All these inquiries share a common purpose
-- to help us understand the thinking behind the solution,
to illustrate how the numerate mind operates. Mathematical
literacy is now essential. Happily, Beyond Numeracy
will enable all readers to achieve that goal and to see
the world and everyday events in it in a fresh way.
John Allen Paulos received his Ph.D.
in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin. Now professor
of mathematics and presidential scholar at Temple University
in Philadelphia, he is the author of the widely acclaimed
books Mathematics and Humor and I Think, Therefore
I Laugh, and, most recently, of the national bestsellerInnumeracy:
Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences. He lives
in suburban Philadelphia and Bar Harbor, Maine, with his
wife and two children.
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