Mathematical Cranks (Spectrum)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.35 (891 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0883855070 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 384 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-10-21 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Daniel H. Bigelow said Breezy and enjoyable. In this book, math professor Underwood Dudley catalogues the characteristics and errors of mathematical cranks. These are the people, usually mathematical amateurs, who believe they have done the impossible: squared the circle, calculated a different value of pi (or in some cases, several different values), and so forth. Math has the advantage over darn near every other human system that one can absolutley prove these people are wrong, but that doesn't stop a true crank.I am no math whiz, and a lot of this book i. Mathematical impossibility does not deter some people. A mathematical proof of the impossibility of doing something does not deter some people from claiming that they have done it. Dudley labels such people as cranks, and he describes many of them in this book. While the reading is entertaining, it is also somewhat depressing, in that no amount of logic or reason can convince a crank that their work is flawed. They give so many different reasons for why their work is rejected. Unfortunately, a crank never arrives at the real reason, namely that their work is simply w. A Customer said A very fun book. On the one hand, mathematics is the great leveler of the sciences. Anyone can do mathematical research, with no equipment but pencil and paper. On the other hand, mathematics is the only science where something can be proven, irrefutably and for all time, to be impossible. These two ingredients make mathematics one of the most fertile grounds for inspiring crankery.This book is not only entertaining, the broadness of its examples provides a fascinating insight into the mind of cranks. I couldn't put it down.
A classic.' Choice'Dudley Underwood extracts insights from an astonishing variety of examples.' Robert Matthews, New Scientist . The organization and breadth of the book are impressive, supported by a helpful index and a list of resources that encourage further explorations. 'A delightful collection of true accounts of individuals who claim to have achieved the mathematically impossible It is hard to put down and provides topics for an unending series of interesting discussions
A delightful collection of articles about people who claim they have achieved the mathematically impossible (squaring the circle, duplicating the cube); people who think they have done something they have not (proving Fermat's Last Theorem); people who pray in matrices; people who find the American Revolution ruled by the number 57; people who have in common eccentric mathematical views, some mild (thinking we should count by 12s instead of 10s), some bizarre (thinking that second-order differential equations will solve all problems of economics, politics and philosophy). It is written with wit and style and is a part of folk mathematics.. This is a truly unique book
He has been active in the publications program of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) for over fifteen years as an Associate Editor of Mathematics Magazine Collaborating Editor of the Problem Section of The American Mathematical Monthly and as Chair of the Anneli Lax New Mathematical Library Editorial Board. His other publications include: "Numerology, or What Phythagoras Wrought," "The