The Joy of Mathematics

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ISBN: 9780933174658 | 0933174659
Cover: Paperback
Copyright: 1/23/1993

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Part of the joy of mathematics is that it is everywhere-in soap bubbles, electricity, da Vinci's masterpieces, even in an ocean wave. Written by the well-known mathematics teacher consultant, this volume's collection of over 200 clearly illustrated mathematical ideas, concepts, puzzles, and games shows where they turn up in the "real" world. You'll find out what a googol is, visit hotel infinity, read a thorny logic problem that was stumping them back in the 8th century.

THE JOY OF MATHEMATICS is designed to be opened at random…it's mini essays are self-contained providing the reader with an enjoyable way to explore and experience mathematics at its best.

The evolution of base ten	p. 2
The Pythagorean Theorem	p. 4
Optical illusions and computer graphics	p. 5
The cycloid	p. 6
A triangle to a square problem	p. 9
Halley's comet	p. 10
The impossible tribar	p. 13
The quipu	p. 14
Calligraphy, typography and mathematics	p. 16
The wheat and the chessboard problem	p. 17
Probability and [pi]	p. 18
Earthquakes and logarithms	p. 20
Parabolic ceiling and the Capitol	p. 22
Computers, counting and electricity	p. 24
Topo - a mathematical game	p. 26
Fibonacci sequence	p. 28
A twist to the Pythagorean Theorem	p. 30
Trinity of rings-a topological problem	p. 31
Anatomy and the golden section	p. 32
Catenary and parabolic curves	p. 34
The T problem	p. 35
Thales and the Great Pyramid	p. 36
Hotel Infinity	p. 37
Crystals - nature's polyhedra	p. 38
Pascal's triangle	p. 40
Mathematics of the billiard table	p. 42
The electron's path and geometry	p. 43
The Moebius strip and the Klein bottle	p. 44
A Sam Loyd puzzle	p. 47
Mathematics and paperfolding	p. 48
The Fibonacci trick	p. 51
The evolution of mathematical symbols	p. 52
Some geometric designs of Leonardo da Vinci	p. 55
Ten historic dates	p. 56
Napoleon's theorem	p. 57
Lewis Carroll-the mathematician	p. 58
Counting on fingers	p. 60
A twist to the Moebius strip	p. 61
Heron's theorem	p. 62
A look at Gothic architecture	p. 63
Napier's bones	p. 64
Art and projective geometry	p. 66
Infinity and the circle	p. 68
The amazing track	p. 69
Persian horses and Sam Loyd's puzzle	p. 70
The lunes	p. 72
Hexagons in nature	p. 74
The googol and the googolplex	p. 76
A magic cube	p. 77
Fractals-real or imaginary	p. 78
Nanoseconds-measuring time on computers	p. 80
Geodesic dome of Leonardo da Vinci	p. 81
Magic squares	p. 82
A special "magic" square	p. 87
The Chinese triangle	p. 88
The death of Archimedes	p. 89
A non-Euclidean world	p. 90
Cannon balls and pyramids	p. 93
Conchoid of Nicomedes	p. 94
The trefoil knot	p. 96
The magic square of Benjamin Franklin	p. 97
Irrational numbers and the Pythagorean Theorem	p. 98
Prime numbers	p. 100
The golden rectangle	p. 102
Making a tri-tetra flexagon	p. 107
Finding infinity in small places	p. 108
The five Platonic solids	p. 110
The pyramid method-making magic squares	p. 112
The Kepler-Poinsot solids	p. 113
The false spiral optical illusion	p. 114
The icosahedron and the golden rectangle	p. 115
Zeno's paradox-Achilles and the tortoise	p. 116
The mystic hexagram	p. 118
The penny puzzle	p. 119
Tessellations	p. 120
Diophantus' riddle	p. 123
The Konigsberg Bridge problem	p. 124
Networks	p. 126
Aztec calendar	p. 128
The impossible trio-three ancient construction problems	p. 130
Ancient Tibetan magic square	p. 133
Perimeter, area, and infinite series	p. 134
The checkerboard problem	p. 136
Pascal's calculator	p. 137
Isaac Newton and calculus	p. 138
Japanese abacus	p. 139
The proof of 1=2	p. 140
The symmetry of crystals	p. 141
The mathematics of music	p. 142
Numerical palindromes	p. 146
The unexpected exam paradox	p. 147
Babylonian cuneiform text	p. 148
The spiral of Archimedes	p. 149
The evolution of mathematical ideas	p. 150
The four color map problem takes a turn	p. 152
Art and dynamic symmetry	p. 154
Transfinite numbers	p. 156
Logic problem	p. 159
The snowflake curve	p. 160
Zero-when and where	p. 162
Pappus' theorem and the nine coin puzzle	p. 163
The Japanese magic circle & Gauss' problem	p. 164
Spherical dome and water distillation	p. 165
The helix	p. 166
Magic "line"	p. 169
Mathematics and architecture	p. 170
History of optical illusions	p. 172
Trisecting the equilateral triangle	p. 174
The wood, water, and grain problem	p. 175
Charles Babbage, the Leonardo da Vinci of computers	p. 176
Mathematics and Moslem art	p. 178
A Chinese magic square	p. 179
Infinity and limits	p. 180
Counterfeit coin puzzle	p. 181
The Parthenon-an optical and mathematical design	p. 182
Probability and Pascal's triangle	p. 183
The involute curve	p. 187
The pentagon, the pentagram, and the golden triangle	p. 188
Three men facing a wall problem	p. 190
Geometric fallacy and the Fibonacci sequence	p. 191
Mazes	p. 192
Chinese "checkerboards"	p. 195
Conic sections	p. 196
The screw of Archimedes	p. 198
Irradiation optical illusion	p. 199
The Pythagorean Theorem and President Garfield	p. 200
The wheel paradox of Aristotole & Galileo's solution	p. 202
Stonehenge	p. 203
How many dimensions are there?	p. 204
Computers and dimensions	p. 206
The "double" Moebius strip	p. 207
Paradoxical curve-the space-filling curve	p. 208
The abacus	p. 209
Mathematics and weaving	p. 210
Mersenne's number	p. 211
The tangram puzzle	p. 212
Infinite vs finite	p. 213
Triangular, square, and pentagonal numbers	p. 214
Eratosthenes measures the Earth	p. 215
Projective geometry and linear programming	p. 216
The spider and the fly	p. 218
Mathematics and soap bubbles	p. 219
The coin paradox	p. 220
Hexaminoes	p. 221
The Fibonacci sequence and nature	p. 222
The monkey and the coconuts	p. 226
Spiders and spirals	p. 228
Solutions	p. 229
Index	p. 235
About the author	p. 241
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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The Joy of Mathematics

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