Mathematics: Rhyme and Reason is an exploration of the aesthetic value of mathematics and the culture of the mathematics community. This book introduces budding mathematicians of all ages to mathematical ways of thinking through a series of chapters that mix episodes from the author's life with explanations of intriguing mathematical concepts and the stories of the mathematicians who discovered them. The chapters can be read independently, and most require only a background in basic high school algebra or geometry to appreciate the topics covered. Part personal memoir, part appreciation of the poetry and humanity inherent in mathematics, this entertaining collection of stories, theorems, and reflections will be of interest to anyone curious about mathematics and the human beings who practice it. In the interest of fostering a greater awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its connections to other disciplines and everyday life, MSRI and the AMS are publishing books in the Mathematical Circles Library series as a service to young people, their parents and teachers, and the mathematics profession.
Author(s): Mel Currie
Series: MSRI Mathematical Circles Library
Publisher: American Mathematical Society
Year: 2018
Language: English
Pages: 178
Cover
Title page
Preface
Chapter 1. The Riddle
Chapter 2. Primes
Chapter 3. Some Geometry
Chapter 4. Mysterious Pattern
Chapter 5. Some Things Add Up. Some Don’t.
Chapter 6. A Tangential Remark
Chapter 7. Plus or Minus
Chapter 8. Making the Optimal Choice
Chapter 9. Impossibilities
Chapter 10. Magnitudes of Infinity
Chapter 11. The Inevitable (Sperner’s Lemma—The Brouwer Fixed-Point Theorem)
Chapter 12. Consider the Sequence (Fibonacci and Golden Ratio)
Chapter 13. What Are the Chances?
Chapter 14. The Euler Line
Chapter 15. The Dissertation
Chapter 16. The Next Prime Number Is? (Gandhi’s Formula)
Chapter 17. Bulgarian Solitaire
Chapter 18. Which is Bigger? (?^{?} versus ?^{?})
Chapter 19. Fascinating
Chapter 20. From the Sublime to the Ridiculous
Chapter 21. A Few More Words
Photos and Pictures
Appendix A. Notation, etc.
Appendix B. Mysterious
Appendix C. Impossibilities
Appendix D. Magnitudes
Appendix E. Fascinating
Back Cover
