Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with math and book

Biographies of abstract thinkers wanted

reenum — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 07:10:44 -0800

Looking for biographies of scientists or mathematicians. I've read Fermat's Enigma by Simon Singh, and am now reading The Man Who Loved Only Numbers by Paul Hoffman.

I'm looking for more biographies of people who have made huge advances in fields involving abstract thought or solving tough abstract problems. Books detailing the solving tough abstract problems would also fit the bill.

Suggestions? Thanks!

What books should I buy my math professors?

cybertaur1 — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 08:54:30 -0800

I recently applied to grad schools, and I got recommendations from three of my math professors. I'd like to get them all books as a "thank you" but I'm stumped on which specific titles to get two of them. The books don't have to be overtly math-related (thought it wouldn't hurt), but I think they probably shouldn't be completely orthogonal. If it helps, the book that I did buy is Michael Ruhlman's latest food book Ratio. Some further details:

I bought Ratio for Professor 1, and she liked it a lot.
Professor 2 is Professor 1's husband, and loves financial math.
Professor 3 loves geometry above all else.

And again I'd like to stress that the books suggested don't have to directly align with these interests. If you've got a book in mind that most people with a disposition towards math would enjoy, that would qualify too.

Thanks!

Name this Mathematics Textbook series

James Scott-Brown — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:13:46 -0800

Recently, someone described a 10-volume mathematics textbook series to me. The books were written by a single author, an engineer with a name that sounded Greek, and came with full worked solutions to every single problem, making them ideal for self study. Unfortunately, they could not remember its title, and my attempts to find it with Google and Amazon have failed. Has anyone come across this series?

Seeking reading material before jumping into a master's in applied math...

Bugg — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 16:57:11 -0800

Starting this fall, I plan on taking some preparatory undergrad coursework with the intention of eventually applying to a master's program in applied mathematics. I am seeking suggestions for reading material concerning the field of mathematics in general, both as a refresher and as insight into current focus areas and work being done. As a working engineer, my situation and background might be a bit different from most considering this route... I have a bachelor's degree in computer engineering, as well as a master's in the same that was earned while working full time. I continue to work full time, though I have reason to believe that both the school to which I'm applying and my employer will be accommodating. The master's was recently completed, but it has been five years since my undergrad work. Unfortunately, my undergrad coursework is far more relevant than the coursework I've recently taken.

This undergrad coursework largely covers the prerequisites I need for grad study -- core calculus, a class in differential equations, some proofs through a discrete math course, linear algebra, etc. I'm already in contact with advisors regarding further coursework to be taken before applying to a formal grad program and trust their advice. I'm not really seeking additional input concerning this. However, I would definitely consider advice on approaching the mathematics field from an engineering background.

That said, my primary inquiry concerns specific reading material about the field in general. I'm looking for something a bit above pop-science level, but not quite textbook level. I'm by no means afraid of a bit of dense reading; However, I also don't expect to attempt to master the field before entering. Naturally, I already intend to break out my old textbooks, so that's covered. What I'm really seeking is material to give a taste for parts of the field that I wouldn't have been introduced to in an undergrad engineering program. Although probably not a perfect example, I'm looking for something a bit like Knuth's 'The Art of Computer Programming' is to the computer science field, if that's familiar to anyone answering this.

Anyway, I'll attempt to monitor this and answer clarifying questions as they come up. Thanks in advance!

Calculus resources for the curious?

perissodactyl — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 20:02:42 -0800

I would like to relearn some calculus on my own. Please recommend the best book for the purpose. It is embarrassing to me that I presently lack the math required to properly grasp basic Newtonian physics. I would like to regain competency equivalent to what is gained over the course of a year or two of college-level calculus.

Please point me in the direction of a great (text)book that will get me started. Clarity and concision are a must.

Tangentially, I'm also curious as to what topics are usually covered in two years of calculus classes.

Help me solve this Douglas Coupland puzzle.

oxonium — Sat, 27 May 2006 18:54:14 -0800

I am reading Douglas Coupland's new book (JPod) and I'm always a little frustrated by him. He seems to get the general vibe of nerds but is horribly off on details sometimes (in the first 50 pages, he makes reference to a "56k floppy disk"), which is agonizing. Anyway, he posits a math problem (I don't think this counts as a spoiler, I'll even omit the context and just pose the problem with page number, but if you really don't want to see anything about the book, don't read on, I guess.) "Anyway, send me an email or even phone me. It's area code 604, and the number itself is a seven-digit prime which, when squared, is two digits short of being a factorial." p.50, hardcover edition.

Not having had much call to deal with primes in the last five years or so, I went to mathematica. Apparently the 78,499th through 664,579th primes are seven-digit, so no love there. So I went to a factorial table. Factorials of course, quickly grow many zeroes in their tails. This is a problem since the square of any number with trailing zeroes is nonintegral if it has an odd number of trailing zeroes and is a power of ten, if it has an even nonzero number of trailing zeroes.

Since any seven-digit number squared is 13-14 digits, I figured I'd look at ones with 13-15 digits in their non-trailing zeroes. That way I could drop all the zeroes as a redundant digit, plus one. I included 21! because its least significant non-trailing zero digits are redundant.

18! = 6402373705728000
19! = 121645100408832000
20! = 2432902008176640000
21! = 51090942171709440000

None of these is the square of a prime.

Ideas?

State of Quantum Physics

evinrude — Thu, 18 Dec 2003 22:13:25 -0800

I'd like to read a readable, yet not dumbed-down account of the current state of quantum physics, addressing the famous paradoxes and directions modern research is taking. Any recommendations? [more inside] I'm a mathematician by training but not a physicist, and I'm inspired to ask this question because I just finished reading Paradigms Lost (and its sequel) by John L. Casti and found his explanations less than clear. I'm not sure if this was my fault or his. I guess I'm probably looking for something less technical than a journal article, but more rigorous than the science section of the New York Times. Please help me!