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The Joy Of X: A Guided Tour Of Math, From One To Infinity (2012)

by Steven H. Strogatz(Favorite Author)

3.97 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0547517653 (ISBN13: 9780547517650)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

review 1: The Joy of X: A Guided Tour of Math, from One to Infinity by Steven Strogatz"The Joy of X" is an entertaining introductory guide through the elements of math, from the very basic to the infinity. Professor of Applied Mathematics at Cornell University, Steven Strogatz takes the reader on an amusing ride through some of the more interesting stories behind math concepts. This enjoyable and informative 336-page book is comprised of thirty chapters broken out by the six following main parts: 1. Numbers, 2. Relationships, 3. Shapes, 4. Change, 5. Data, and 6. Frontiers. Positives:1. An engaging, well-written, entertaining and practical book. 2. Turns what must have been a challenging topic for any publisher to embrace into a successful popular book on mathematics. Kudos!3. Excel... morelent approach to writing this book. Short chapters of math concepts with engaging narrative that complements what would have otherwise been frightening equations for the public. Strogatz succeeds where other authors have failed. He has made math fun and interesting for the public. 4. Great use of a number of supplementary materials to engage the audience: graphs, charts, pictures, illustrations, and even those dreaded math equations and it works! 5. The love for math, in awe of numbers and its power to model the world. “the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in the natural sciences.”6. An interesting look at prime numbers.7. A brief history of representing numbers. “The Babylonians were not nearly as attached to their fingers. Their numeral system was based on 60—a clear sign of their impeccable taste, for 60 is an exceptionally pleasant number. Its beauty is intrinsic and has nothing to do with human appendages. Sixty is the smallest number that can be divided evenly by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. And that’s just for starters (there’s also 10, 12, 15, 20, and 30). Because of its promiscuous divisibility, 60 is much more congenial than 10 for any sort of calculation or measurement that involves cutting things into equal parts. When we divide an hour into 60 minutes, or a minute into 60 seconds, or a full circle into 360 degrees, we’re channeling the sages of ancient Babylon.”8. Professor Strogatz makes great use of visual aid to help the readers understand mathematical concepts. 9. Helps the readers understand what’s behind the symbols along with what the formula means and where it rises. The power of exponential functions.10. A look at geometry. 11. Throughout the book, the Strogatz provides the applications behind the math. “Yet trigonometry, belying its much too modest name, now goes far beyond the measurement of triangles. By quantifying circles as well, it has paved the way for the analysis of anything that repeats, from ocean waves to brain waves. It’s the key to the mathematics of cycles.”12. The great ideas at the heart of calculus. Great stuff! “Calculus is the mathematics of change. It describes everything from the spread of epidemics to the zigs and zags of a well-thrown curveball.”13. Explaining the nature of light through math.14. Understanding conditional probability. “The real question is: What’s the probability that a man murdered his ex-wife, given that he previously battered her and she was murdered by someone? That conditional probability turns out to be very far from 1 in 2,500.” Applying math to a famous court case.15. The triumphs of linear algebra. “But the greatest triumph of linear algebra, from the standpoint of real-world impact, is surely its solution to the Zen riddle of ranking webpages. “A page is good insofar as good pages link to it.” Translated into symbols, that criterion becomes the PageRank equations.”16. A look at topology. “In topology, two shapes are regarded as the same if you can bend, twist, stretch, or otherwise deform one into the other continuously—that is, without any ripping or puncturing. Unlike the rigid objects of geometry, the objects of topology behave as if they were infinitely elastic, as if they were made of an ideal kind of rubber or Silly Putty.”17. Understanding the concept of the shortest path around a sphere. “With all these flights of fancy, you may be wondering if geodesics have anything to do with reality. Of course they do. Einstein showed that light beams follow geodesics as they sail through the universe. The famous bending of starlight around the sun, detected in the eclipse observations of 1919, confirmed that light travels on geodesics through curved space-time, with the warping being caused by the sun’s gravity.”18. Far fetched concepts of math that lead to real-life applications. 19. A look at infinity.20. Comprehensive notes.Negatives:1. Math is a topic that will automatically drive some people away regardless of how well written is it.2. Despite all the supplementary material provided, I like to see a summary table breaking out all the applications for the math concepts brought up in the book. A quick reference table. 3. Many books are mentioned but no formal bibliography.In summary, what a surprisingly fun book this was and along the way you are guaranteed to learn some amusing facts about mathematics. What sets this book apart is Professor Strogatz’s ability to take what is considered a dry subject into an engaging, entertaining and educational ride. I highly recommend it! Further recommendations: "Mathematics for the Nonmathematician” by Morris Kline, “Love and Math” by Edward Frenkel, “Everyday Calculus” by Oscar E. Fernandez, “The Signal and the Noise” by Nate Silver, “Secrets of Mental Math” by Arthur Benjamin, “What is Mathematics?” by Herbert Robbins, and “Our Mathematical Universe” by Max Tegmark.
review 2: A quick, light read which does little vignettes on the major branches of math in an extremely accessible, entertaining way. With a background in the sciences I was already familiar with many of the gems from each chapter, but the writing was interesting enough to inspire me to want to dig into some of the topic areas on my own. Recommended, especially if you have little or no background in the subject. less

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