The colossal book of mathematics: classic puzzles, paradoxes, & problems: number theory, algebra, geometry, probability, topology, game theory, infinity, & other topics of recreational mathematics by
Whether discussing hexaflexagons or number theory, Klein bottles or the essence of "nothing," Martin Gardner has single-handedly created the field of "recreational mathematics." collects together Gardner's most popular pieces from his legendary "Mathematical Games" column, which ran in for twenty-five years. Gardner's array of absorbing puzzles and mind-twisting paradoxes opens mathematics up to the world at large, inspiring people to see past numbers and formulas and experience the application of mathematical principles to the mysterious world around them. With articles on topics ranging from simple algebra to the twisting surfaces of Mobius strips, from an endless game of Bulgarian solitaire to the unreachable dream of time travel, this volume comprises a substantial and definitive monument to Gardner's influence on mathematics, science, and culture. In its twelve sections, explores a wide range of areas, each startlingly illuminated by Gardner's incisive expertise. Beginning with seemingly simple topics, Gardner expertly guides us through complicated and wondrous worlds: by way of basic algebra we contemplate the mesmerizing, often hilarious, linguistic and numerical possibilities of palindromes; using simple geometry, he dissects the principles of symmetry upon which the renowned mathematical artist M. C. Escher constructs his unique, dizzying universe. Gardner, like few thinkers today, melds a rigorous scientific skepticism with a profound artistic and imaginative impulse. His stunning exploration of "The Church of the Fourth Dimension," for example, bridges the disparate worlds of religion and science by brilliantly imagining the spatial possibility of God's presence in the world as a fourth dimension, at once "everywhere and nowhere." With boundless wisdom and his trademark wit, Gardner allows the reader to further engage challenging topics like probability and game theory which have plagued clever gamblers, and famous mathematicians, for centuries. Whether debunking Pascal's wager with basic probability, making visual music with fractals, or uncoiling a "knotted doughnut" with introductory topology, Gardner continuously displays his fierce intelligence and gentle humor. His articles confront both the comfortingly mundane—"Generalized Ticktacktoe" and "Sprouts and Brussel Sprouts"—and the quakingly abstract—"Hexaflexagons," "Nothing," and "Everything." He navigates these staggeringly obscure topics with a deft intelligence and, with addendums and suggested reading lists, he informs these classic articles with new insight. Admired by scientists and mathematicians, writers and readers alike, Gardner's vast knowledge and burning curiosity reveal themselves on every page. The culmination of a lifelong devotion to the wonders of mathematics, is the largest and most comprehensive math book ever assembled by Gardner and remains an indispensable volume for the amateur and expert alike.
Discrete mathematics with applications by
Susanna Epp's DISCRETE MATHEMATICS WITH APPLICATIONS, FOURTH EDITION provides a clear introduction to discrete mathematics. Renowned for her lucid, accessible prose, Epp explains complex, abstract concepts with clarity and precision. This book presents not only the major themes of discrete mathematics, but also the reasoning that underlies mathematical thought. Students develop the ability to think abstractly as they study the ideas of logic and proof. While learning about such concepts as logic circuits and computer addition, algorithm analysis, recursive thinking, computability, automata, cryptography, and combinatorics, students discover that the ideas of discrete mathematics underlie and are essential to the science and technology of the computer age. Overall, Epp's emphasis on reasoning provides students with a strong foundation for computer science and upper-level mathematics courses.
Finite fields by
The theory of finite fields is a branch of algebra that has come to the fore because of its diverse applications in such areas as combinatorics, coding theory and the mathematical study of switching ciruits. This book is devoted entirely to the theory of finite fields, and it provides comprehensive coverage of the literature. Bibliographical notes at the end of each chapter give an historical survey of the development of the subject. Worked-out examples and lists of exercises found throughout the book make it useful as a text for advanced-level courses.
Finite fields and their applications: character sums and polynomials by
This book contains nine survey papers on topics in finite fields and their applications, in particular on character sums and polynomials. The articles are based on the invited talks ofa RICAM-Workshop held at the St. Wolfgang Federal Institute for Adult Education in Strobl, Austria, September 2-7, 2012, by the Johann Radon Institute for Computational and Applied Mathematics of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
Finite ordered sets: concepts, results and uses by
Ordered sets are ubiquitous in mathematics and have significant applications in computer science, statistics, biology and the social sciences. As the first book to deal exclusively with finite ordered sets, this book will be welcomed by graduate students and researchers in all of these areas. Beginning with definitions of key concepts and fundamental results (Dilworth's and Sperner's theorem, interval and semiorders, Galois connection, duality with distributive lattices, coding and dimension theory), the authors then present applications of these structures in fields such as preference modelling and aggregation, operational research and management, cluster and concept analysis, and data mining. Exercises are included at the end of each chapter with helpful hints provided for some of the most difficult examples. The authors also point to further topics of ongoing research.
Finite precision number systems and arithmetic by
Fundamental arithmetic operations support virtually all of the engineering, scientific, and financial computations required for practical applications, from cryptography, to financial planning, to rocket science. This comprehensive reference provides researchers with the thorough understanding of number representations that is a necessary foundation for designing efficient arithmetic algorithms. Using the elementary foundations of radix number systems as a basis for arithmetic, the authors develop and compare alternative algorithms for the fundamental operations of addition, multiplication, division, and square root with precisely defined roundings. Various finite precision number systems are investigated, with the focus on comparative analysis of practically efficient algorithms for closed arithmetic operations over these systems. Each chapter begins with an introduction to its contents and ends with bibliographic notes and an extensive bibliography. The book may also be used for graduate teaching: problems and exercises are scattered throughout the text and a solutions manual is available for instructors.
Products of finite groups by
The study of finite groups factorised as a product of two or more subgroups has become a subject of great interest during the last years with applications not only in group theory, but also in other areas like cryptography and coding theory. It has experienced a big impulse with the introduction of some permutability conditions. The aim of this book is to gather, order, and examine part of this material, including the latest advances made, give some new approach to some topics, and present some new subjects of research in the theory of finite factorised groups.
Symmetric generation of groups: with applications to many of the sporadic finite simple groups by
Some of the most beautiful mathematical objects found in the last forty years are the sporadic simple groups. But gaining familiarity with these groups presents problems for two reasons. Firstly, they were discovered in many different ways, so to understand their constructions in depth one needs to study lots of different techniques. Secondly, since each of them is in a sense recording some exceptional symmetry in spaces of certain dimensions, they are by their nature highly complicated objects with a rich underlying combinatorial structure. Motivated by initial results which showed that the Mathieu groups can be generated by highly symmetrical sets of elements, which themselves have a natural geometric definition, the author develops from scratch the notion of symmetric generation. He exploits this technique by using it to define and construct many of the sporadic simple groups including all the Janko groups and the Higman-Sims group. For researchers and postgraduates.
