Sterling | 2013 | 496 páginas | epub | 3,1 Mb
link
From the archives of the world's most famous newspaper comes a collection of its very best writing on mathematics. Big and informative, The New York Times Book of Mathematics gathers more than 110 articles written from 1892 to 2010 that cover statistics, coincidences, chaos theory, famous problems, cryptography, computers, and many other topics. Edited by Pulitzer Prize finalist and senior Times writer Gina Kolata, and featuring renowned contributors such as James Gleick, William L. Laurence, Malcolm W. Browne, George Johnson, and John Markoff, it's a must-have for any math and science enthusiast!
CONTENTS
Foreword Paul Hoffman
Introduction Gina Kolata
CHAPTER 1 What Is Mathematics?
Useful Invention or Absolute Truth: What Is Math?, George Johnson
But Aren’t Truth and Beauty Supposed to be Enough?, James Gleick
Mathematicians Meet Computerized Ideas, Gina Kolata
Mathematicians Finally Log On, James Gleick
With Major Math Proof, Brute Computers Show Flash of Reasoning Power, Gina Kolata
Computers Still Can’t Do Beautiful Mathematics, Gina Kolata
100 Quadrillion Calculations Later, Eureka!, Gina Kolata
Theorist Applies Computer Power to Uncertainty in Statistic, Gina Kolata
CHAPTER 2 Statistics, Coincidences and Surprising Facts
1-in-a-Trillion Coincidence, You Say? Not Really, Experts Find, Gina Kolata
Sometimes Heavier Objects Go to the Top: Here’s Why, James Gleick
Behind Monty Hall’s Doors: Puzzle, Debate and Answer?, John Tierney
What If They Closed 42d Street and Nobody Noticed?, Gina Kolata
Down for the Count; Why Some Numbers Are Only Very Good Guesses, Gina Kolata
Could It Be? Weather Has Nothing to Do with Your Arthritis Pain?,Gina Kolata
Electronics to Aid Weather Figuring, Sidney Shalett
Insurance as a Study; Something of the Men Who Figure Business by Algebra Leontief’s Contribution, Leonard Silk
Many Small Events May Add Up to One Mass Extinction, Malcolm W. Browne
Metric Mania, John Allen Paulos
In Shuffling Cards, 7 Is a Winning Number, Gina Kolata
Can Game Theory Predict When Iran Will Get the Bomb?, Clive Thompson
In Modeling Risk, the Human Factor Was Left Out, Steve Lohr
Playing the Odds, George Johnson
Monday Puzzle: Solution to Birthday Problem, Pradeep Mutalik
Just What Are Your Odds in Genetic Roulette? Go Figure, Gina Kolata
The 2000 Election: The Science of Counting, Gina Kolata
Prospectus; Can a Computer Program Figure Out the Market? A Former Analyst and a Mathematician Are Betting That Theirs Can, Janet Stites
New Tools for the I.R.S. to Sniff Out Tax Cheats, David Cay Johnston
CHAPTER 3 Famous Problems, Solved and As Yet Unsolved
New Mathematics Links Two Worlds, William L. Laurence
An Elusive Proof and Its Elusive Prover, Dennis Overbye
Ask Science: Poincaré’s Conjecture, Dennis Overbye
Grigori Perelman’s Beautiful Mind, Jascha Hoffman
A Math Problem Solver Declines a $1 Million Prize, Dennis Overbye
“Four-Color Problem” Attacked, William L. Laurence
Four-Color Proof
Goldbach’s Conjecture; This One May Be Provable, but We May Never Know, George Johnson
Mathematics Expert May Soon Resolve A 350-Year Problem, James Gleick
Fermat’s Theorem Solved? Not This Time, James Gleick
Fermat’s Last Theorem Still Has 0 Solutions ,James Gleick
At Last, Shout of “Eureka!” in Age-Old Math Mystery, Gina Kolata
Fermat’s Theorem, James Gleick
Flaw Is Found in Math Proof, but Repairs Are Under Way, Gina Kolata
A Year Later Fermat’s Puzzle Is Still Not Quite Q.E.D., Gina Kolata
How a Gap in the Fermat Proof Was Bridged, Gina Kolata
Two Key Mathematics Questions Answered after Quarter Century, John A. Osmundsen
Mathematical Theory of Poker Is Applied to Business Problems, Will Lissner
Soap Bubbles Get a New Role in Old Mathematics Problem, Joseph Williams
Math Advance Penetrates Secrets of Knots, James Gleick
Packing Tetrahedrons, and Closing in on a Perfect Fit ,Kenneth Chang
Finding Order in the Apparent Chaos of Currents, Bina Venkataraman
In Bubbles and Metal, the Art of Shape-Shifting, Kenneth Chang
The Scientific Promise of Perfect Symmetry, Kenneth Chang
143-Year-Old Problem Still Has Mathematicians Guessing, Bruce Schechter
What Is the Most Important Problem in Math Today?, Gina Kolata
Solution to Old Puzzle: How Short a Shortcut?, Gina Kolata
CHAPTER 4 Chaos, Catastrophe and Randomness
Chaos Is Defined by New Calculus
Experts Debate the Prediction of Disasters, Malcolm W. Browne
Solving the Mathematical Riddle of Chaos, James Gleick
The Man Who Reshaped Geometry, James Gleick
Snowflake’s Riddle Yields to Probing of Science, James Gleick
Tales of Chaos: Tumbling Moons and Unstable Asteroids, James Gleick
Fluid Math Made Simple—Sort Of, James Gleick
When Chaos Rules the Market, James Gleick
New Appreciation of the Complexity in a Flock of Birds, James Gleick
Indestructible Wave May Hold Key to Superconductors , James Gleick
The Quest for True Randomness Finally Appears Successful, James Gleick
Coin-Tossing Computers Found to Show Subtle Bias, Malcolm W. Browne
Science Squints at a Future Fogged by Chaotic Uncertainty, Malcolm W. Browne
Probing Disease Clusters: Easier to Spot Than Prove, Gina Kolata
The Odds of That, Lisa Belkin
Fractal Vision, James Gleick
CHAPTER 5 Cryptography and the Emergence of Truly Unbreakable Codes
Harassment Alleged over Code Research, Malcolm W. Browne
Researchers to Permit Pre-Publication Review by U.S., Richard Severo
Tighter Security Rules for Advances in Cryptology, Walter Sullivan
A New Approach to Protecting Secrets Is Discovered, James Gleick
Brief U.S. Suppression of Proof Stirs Anger
A Most Ferocious Math Problem Tamed, Malcolm W. Browne
Biggest Division a Giant Leap in Math, Gina Kolata
Scientists Devise Math Tool to Break a Protective Code, John Markoff
Tied Up in Knots, Cryptographers Test Their Limits, Gina Kolata
A Public Battle over Secret Codes, John Markoff
U.S. Code Agency Is Jostling for Civilian Turf, John Markoff
Researchers Demonstrate Computer Code Can Be Broken, Sara Robinson
Nick Patterson; A Cold War Cryptologist Takes a Crack at Deciphering DNA’s Deep Secrets, Ingfei Chen
Adding Math to List of Security Threats, John Markoff
Prizes Aside, the P-NP Puzzler Has Consequences, John Markoff
CHAPTER 6 Computers Enter the World of Mathematics
“Thinking Machine” Does Higher Mathematics; Solves Equations That Take Humans MonthsNew Giant “Brain” Does Wizard Work
“Brain” Speeded Up for War Problems, Will Lissner
The Electronic Digital Computer: How It Started, How It Works and What It Does, Henry L. Lieberman and Dr. Louis Robinson
New Shortcut Found for Long Math Proofs, Gina Kolata
New Technique Stores Images More Efficiently, Gina Kolata
Giant Computer Virtually Conquers Space and Time, George Johnson
Rear Adm. Grace M. Hopper Dies; Innovator in Computers Was 85, John Markoff
Frances E. Holberton, 84, Early Computer Programmer, Steve Lohr
Squeezing Data like an Accordion, Peter Wayner
A Digital Brain Makes Connections, Anne Eisenberg
A Soviet Discovery Rocks World of Mathematics, Malcolm W. Browne
The Health Care Debate: Finding What Works, Gina Kolata
Step 1: Post Elusive Proof. Step 2: Watch Fireworks, John Markoff
CHAPTER 7 Mathematicians and Their World
Paul Erdos, 83, a Wayfarer in Math’s Vanguard, Is Dead, Gina Kolata
Journeys to the Distant Fields of Prime, Kenneth Chang
Highest Honor in Mathematics Is Refused, Kenneth Chang
Scientist at Work: John H. Conway; At Home in the Elusive World of Mathematics, Gina Kolata
Claude Shannon, B. 1916—Bit Player, James Gleick
An Isolated Genius Is Given His Due , James Gleick
Scientist at Work: Andrew Wiles; Math Whiz Who Battled 350-Year-Old, Problem Gina Kolata
Scientist at Work: Leonard Adleman; Hitting the High Spots of Computer Theory, Gina Kolata
Dr. Kurt Gödel, 71, Mathematician, Peter B. Flint
Genius or Gibberish? The Strange World of the Math Crank, George Johnson
Contributors’ Biographies
Photography and Illustration Credits
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário