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Rediscovering Mathematics

Rediscovering Mathematics

Rediscovering Mathematics

You Do the Math
Shai Simonson, Stonehill College, Massachusetts
April 2011
This item is not supplied by Cambridge University Press in your region. Please contact Mathematical Association of America for availability.
Hardback
9780883857700
£36.99
GBP
Hardback

    Rediscovering Mathematics is an eclectic collection of mathematical topics and puzzles aimed at talented youngsters and inquisitive adults who want to expand their view of mathematics. By focusing on problem solving, and discouraging rote memorisation, the book shows how to learn and teach mathematics through investigation, experimentation and discovery. Rediscovering Mathematics is also an excellent text for training mathematics teachers at all levels. Topics range in difficulty and cover a wide range of historical periods, with some examples demonstrating how to uncover mathematics in everyday life, including number theory and its application to secure communication over the Internet, the algebraic and combinatorial work of a medieval mathematician Rabbi, and applications of probability to sports, casinos, and everyday life. Rediscovering Mathematics provides a fresh view of mathematics for those who already like the subject, and offers a second chance for those who think they don't.

    • Nearly 200 end-of-chapter exercises
    • Frequent challenges with hints and solutions throughout
    • A focus on learning through problem-solving and understanding is enhanced by linking mathematical topics to everyday-life scenarios

    Product details

    April 2011
    Hardback
    9780883857700
    240 pages
    261 × 182 × 18 mm
    0.62kg
    68 b/w illus. 15 colour illus. 7 tables 181 exercises
    This item is not supplied by Cambridge University Press in your region. Please contact Mathematical Association of America for availability.

    Table of Contents

    • Preface - a guide for the reader
    • Introduction - how to read mathematics
    • 1. Mathematical discovery in the classroom
    • 2. Don't reach for your calculator (yet)
    • 3. Have another piece of pie, Zeno?
    • 4. Thinking like a mathematician - lessons from a medieval Rabbi
    • 5. What's mathematics good for?
    • 6. Three averages
    • 7. Algorithms - the unexpected role of pure mathematics
    • 8. Pythagoras' Theorem and math by pictures
    • 9. Memorizing versus understanding
    • 10. Games and gambling
    • 11. Soccer balls and counting tricks
    • 12. Pizza Pi and area
    • 13. Back to the classroom
    • Resources for rediscovering mathematics
    • Further reading.
      Author
    • Shai Simonson , Stonehill College, Massachusetts

      Shai Simonson received his BA in Mathematics at Columbia University, and his MS and Ph.D. in Computer Science at Northwestern University. Having previously taught at universities including the University of Illinois, Northwestern University, Tel Aviv University and ArsDigita University, he is now a Professor of Computer Science at Stonehill College, Massachusetts.