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The Art of Mathematics

The Art of Mathematics

The Art of Mathematics

Coffee Time in Memphis
Béla Bollobás, Trinity College, Cambridge
September 2006
Paperback
9780521693950
$41.00
USD
Paperback
USD
eBook

    Can a Christian escape from a lion? How quickly can a rumour spread? Can you fool an airline into accepting oversize baggage? Recreational mathematics is full of frivolous questions where the mathematician's art can be brought to bear. But play often has a purpose. In mathematics, it can sharpen skills, provide amusement, or simply surprise, and books of problems have been the stock-in-trade of mathematicians for centuries. This collection is designed to be sipped from, rather than consumed in one sitting. The questions range in difficulty: the most challenging offer a glimpse of deep results that engage mathematicians today; even the easiest prompt readers to think about mathematics. All come with solutions, many with hints, and most with illustrations. Whether you are an expert, or a beginner or an amateur mathematician, this book will delight for a lifetime.

    • Aimed at a broad audience ranging from professional mathematicians to interested amateur
    • Entertaining mix of problems ranging from the frivolous to others that show how mathematicians discover new ideas
    • Inspired by two of the twentieth century's leading mathematicians, Paul Erdos and J. E. Littlewood, who were both inveterate problem posers and solvers

    Reviews & endorsements

    '…a marvellous collection of problems and solutions from various areas of mathematics. All the problems are challenging and the whole book is most entertaining. I have always wanted to write something like this, but now it is done and it is done in an excellent and professional way … it is an awesome collection of new problems, results and ideas. I wish I had this book when I was a student.' Acta Scientiarum Mathematicarum

    'The beauty of this book is not only the variety of problems and the every day appeal of many of them, but also that the questions and answers are provided separately so one can have a go at them alone first … an excellent way to engage in elegant mathematics and provide some yoga for your brain.' www.bluesci.org

    See more reviews

    Product details

    May 2012
    Adobe eBook Reader
    9781139239363
    0 pages
    0kg
    85 b/w illus.
    This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.

    Table of Contents

    • Preface
    • Part I. The Problems
    • Part II. The Hints
    • Part III. The Solutions.
      Author
    • Béla Bollobás , Trinity College, Cambridge

      Béla Bollobás is a Senior Research Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge and is the Jabie Hardin Chair of Excellence in Combinatorics at the University of Memphis. He has held visiting positions from Seattle to Singapore, from Brazil to Zurich. This is his tenth book.