Author: Stefan Hildebrandt
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9780387979915
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 370
Book Description
Why does nature prefer some shapes and not others? The variety of sizes, shapes, and irregularities in nature is endless. Skillfully integrating striking full-color illustrations, the authors describe the efforts by scientists and mathematicians since the Renaissance to identify and describe the principles underlying the shape of natural forms. But can one set of laws account for both the symmetry and irregularity as well as the infinite variety of nature's designs? A complete answer to this question is likely never to be discovered. Yet, it is fascinating to see how the search for some simple universal laws down through the ages has increased our understanding of nature. The Parsimonious Universe looks at examples from the world around us at a non-mathematical, non-technical level to show that nature achieves efficiency by being stingy with the energy it expends.
The Parsimonious Universe
Author: Stefan Hildebrandt
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9780387979915
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 370
Book Description
Why does nature prefer some shapes and not others? The variety of sizes, shapes, and irregularities in nature is endless. Skillfully integrating striking full-color illustrations, the authors describe the efforts by scientists and mathematicians since the Renaissance to identify and describe the principles underlying the shape of natural forms. But can one set of laws account for both the symmetry and irregularity as well as the infinite variety of nature's designs? A complete answer to this question is likely never to be discovered. Yet, it is fascinating to see how the search for some simple universal laws down through the ages has increased our understanding of nature. The Parsimonious Universe looks at examples from the world around us at a non-mathematical, non-technical level to show that nature achieves efficiency by being stingy with the energy it expends.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9780387979915
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 370
Book Description
Why does nature prefer some shapes and not others? The variety of sizes, shapes, and irregularities in nature is endless. Skillfully integrating striking full-color illustrations, the authors describe the efforts by scientists and mathematicians since the Renaissance to identify and describe the principles underlying the shape of natural forms. But can one set of laws account for both the symmetry and irregularity as well as the infinite variety of nature's designs? A complete answer to this question is likely never to be discovered. Yet, it is fascinating to see how the search for some simple universal laws down through the ages has increased our understanding of nature. The Parsimonious Universe looks at examples from the world around us at a non-mathematical, non-technical level to show that nature achieves efficiency by being stingy with the energy it expends.
The Parsimonious Universe
Author: S. Hildebrandt
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783540979913
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 330
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783540979913
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 330
Book Description
A Universe from Nothing
Author: Lawrence Maxwell Krauss
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 145162445X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 226
Book Description
This is a provocative account of the astounding new answers to the most basic philosophical question: Where did the universe come from and how will it end?
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 145162445X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 226
Book Description
This is a provocative account of the astounding new answers to the most basic philosophical question: Where did the universe come from and how will it end?
Proofs from THE BOOK
Author: Martin Aigner
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3662054124
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 234
Book Description
The mathematical heroes of this book are "perfect proofs": brilliant ideas, clever connections and wonderful observations that bring new insight and surprising perspectives on basic and challenging problems from Number Theory, Geometry, Analysis, Combinatorics, and Graph Theory. Thirty beautiful examples are presented here. They are candidates for The Book in which God records the perfect proofs - according to the late Paul Erdös, who himself suggested many of the topics in this collection. The result is a book which will be fun for everybody with an interest in mathematics, requiring only a very modest (undergraduate) mathematical background.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3662054124
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 234
Book Description
The mathematical heroes of this book are "perfect proofs": brilliant ideas, clever connections and wonderful observations that bring new insight and surprising perspectives on basic and challenging problems from Number Theory, Geometry, Analysis, Combinatorics, and Graph Theory. Thirty beautiful examples are presented here. They are candidates for The Book in which God records the perfect proofs - according to the late Paul Erdös, who himself suggested many of the topics in this collection. The result is a book which will be fun for everybody with an interest in mathematics, requiring only a very modest (undergraduate) mathematical background.
The Pendulum
Author: Gregory L. Baker
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 019156530X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 300
Book Description
The pendulum: a case study in physics is a unique book in several ways. Firstly, it is a comprehensive quantitative study of one physical system, the pendulum, from the viewpoint of elementary and more advanced classical physics, modern chaotic dynamics, and quantum mechanics. In addition, coupled pendulums and pendulum analogs of superconducting devices are also discussed. Secondly, this book treats the physics of the pendulum within a historical and cultural context, showing, for example, that the pendulum has been intimately connected with studies of the earth's density, the earth's motion, and timekeeping. While primarily a physics book, the work provides significant added interest through the use of relevant cultural and historical vignettes. This approach offers an alternative to the usual modern physics courses. The text is amply illustrated and augmented by exercises at the end of each chapter.
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 019156530X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 300
Book Description
The pendulum: a case study in physics is a unique book in several ways. Firstly, it is a comprehensive quantitative study of one physical system, the pendulum, from the viewpoint of elementary and more advanced classical physics, modern chaotic dynamics, and quantum mechanics. In addition, coupled pendulums and pendulum analogs of superconducting devices are also discussed. Secondly, this book treats the physics of the pendulum within a historical and cultural context, showing, for example, that the pendulum has been intimately connected with studies of the earth's density, the earth's motion, and timekeeping. While primarily a physics book, the work provides significant added interest through the use of relevant cultural and historical vignettes. This approach offers an alternative to the usual modern physics courses. The text is amply illustrated and augmented by exercises at the end of each chapter.
African Mathematics
Author: Abdul Karim Bangura
Publisher: University Press of America
ISBN: 0761853480
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 227
Book Description
This is the first comprehensive text on African Mathematics that can be used to address some of the problematic issues in this area. These issues include attitudes, curriculum development, educational change, academic achievement, standardized and other tests, performance factors, student characteristics, cross-cultural differences and studies, literacy, native speakers, social class and differences, equal education, teaching methods, knowledge level, educational guidelines and policies, transitional schools, comparative education, other subjects such as physics and social studies, surveys, talent, educational research, teacher education and qualifications, academic standards, teacher effectiveness, lesson plans and modules, teacher characteristics, instructional materials, program effectiveness, program evaluation, African culture, African history, Black studies, class activities, educational games, number systems, cognitive ability, foreign influence, and fundamental concepts. What unifies the chapters in this book can appear rather banal, but many mathematical insights are so obvious and so fundamental that they are difficult to absorb, appreciate, and express with fresh clarity. Some of the more basic insights are isolated by accounts of investigators who have earned their contemporaries' respect. Winner of the 2012 Cecil B. Currey Book Award.
Publisher: University Press of America
ISBN: 0761853480
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 227
Book Description
This is the first comprehensive text on African Mathematics that can be used to address some of the problematic issues in this area. These issues include attitudes, curriculum development, educational change, academic achievement, standardized and other tests, performance factors, student characteristics, cross-cultural differences and studies, literacy, native speakers, social class and differences, equal education, teaching methods, knowledge level, educational guidelines and policies, transitional schools, comparative education, other subjects such as physics and social studies, surveys, talent, educational research, teacher education and qualifications, academic standards, teacher effectiveness, lesson plans and modules, teacher characteristics, instructional materials, program effectiveness, program evaluation, African culture, African history, Black studies, class activities, educational games, number systems, cognitive ability, foreign influence, and fundamental concepts. What unifies the chapters in this book can appear rather banal, but many mathematical insights are so obvious and so fundamental that they are difficult to absorb, appreciate, and express with fresh clarity. Some of the more basic insights are isolated by accounts of investigators who have earned their contemporaries' respect. Winner of the 2012 Cecil B. Currey Book Award.
Problem Solving
Author: Zygmunt Pizlo
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009205587
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 209
Book Description
Intelligent mental representations of physical, cognitive and social environments allow humans to navigate enormous search spaces, whose sizes vastly exceed the number of neurons in the human brain. This allows us to solve a wide range of problems, such as the Traveling Salesperson Problem, insight problems, as well as mathematics and physics problems. As an area of research, problem solving has steadily grown over time. Researchers in Artificial Intelligence have been formulating theories of problem solving for the last 70 years. Psychologists, on the other hand, have focused their efforts on documenting the observed behavior of subjects solving problems. This book represents the first effort to merge the behavioral results of human subjects with formal models of the causative cognitive mechanisms. The first coursebook to deal exclusively with the topic, it provides a main text for elective courses and a supplementary text for courses such as cognitive psychology and neuroscience.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009205587
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 209
Book Description
Intelligent mental representations of physical, cognitive and social environments allow humans to navigate enormous search spaces, whose sizes vastly exceed the number of neurons in the human brain. This allows us to solve a wide range of problems, such as the Traveling Salesperson Problem, insight problems, as well as mathematics and physics problems. As an area of research, problem solving has steadily grown over time. Researchers in Artificial Intelligence have been formulating theories of problem solving for the last 70 years. Psychologists, on the other hand, have focused their efforts on documenting the observed behavior of subjects solving problems. This book represents the first effort to merge the behavioral results of human subjects with formal models of the causative cognitive mechanisms. The first coursebook to deal exclusively with the topic, it provides a main text for elective courses and a supplementary text for courses such as cognitive psychology and neuroscience.
Computational Psychoanalysis and Formal Bi-Logic Frameworks
Author: Iurato, Giuseppe
Publisher: IGI Global
ISBN: 1522541292
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 383
Book Description
Computational psychoanalysis is a new field stemming from Freudian psychoanalysis. The new area aims to understand the primary formal structures and running mechanisms of the unconscious while implementing them into computer sciences. Computational Psychoanalysis and Formal Bi-Logic Frameworks provides emerging information on this new field which uses psychoanalysis and the unconscious mind to make advancements in computational research. While highlighting the challenges of applying analytical logic trends to primary formal structures, readers will learn the valuable outputs to society when these trends are successfully implemented. This book is an important resource for computer scientists, researchers, academics, and other professionals seeking current research on applying psychoanalysis and Freudian concepts to computational structures.
Publisher: IGI Global
ISBN: 1522541292
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 383
Book Description
Computational psychoanalysis is a new field stemming from Freudian psychoanalysis. The new area aims to understand the primary formal structures and running mechanisms of the unconscious while implementing them into computer sciences. Computational Psychoanalysis and Formal Bi-Logic Frameworks provides emerging information on this new field which uses psychoanalysis and the unconscious mind to make advancements in computational research. While highlighting the challenges of applying analytical logic trends to primary formal structures, readers will learn the valuable outputs to society when these trends are successfully implemented. This book is an important resource for computer scientists, researchers, academics, and other professionals seeking current research on applying psychoanalysis and Freudian concepts to computational structures.
Mathematical Analysis
Author: Mariano Giaquinta
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9780817643126
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 418
Book Description
For more than two thousand years some familiarity with mathematics has been regarded as an indispensable part of the intellectual equipment of every cultured person. Today the traditional place of mathematics in education is in grave danger. Unfortunately, professional representatives of mathematics share in the reponsibiIity. The teaching of mathematics has sometimes degen erated into empty drill in problem solving, which may develop formal ability but does not lead to real understanding or to greater intellectual indepen dence. Mathematical research has shown a tendency toward overspecialization and over-emphasis on abstraction. Applications and connections with other fields have been neglected . . . But . . . understanding of mathematics cannot be transmitted by painless entertainment any more than education in music can be brought by the most brilliant journalism to those who never have lis tened intensively. Actual contact with the content of living mathematics is necessary. Nevertheless technicalities and detours should be avoided, and the presentation of mathematics should be just as free from emphasis on routine as from forbidding dogmatism which refuses to disclose motive or goal and which is an unfair obstacle to honest effort. (From the preface to the first edition of What is Mathematics? by Richard Courant and Herbert Robbins, 1941.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9780817643126
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 418
Book Description
For more than two thousand years some familiarity with mathematics has been regarded as an indispensable part of the intellectual equipment of every cultured person. Today the traditional place of mathematics in education is in grave danger. Unfortunately, professional representatives of mathematics share in the reponsibiIity. The teaching of mathematics has sometimes degen erated into empty drill in problem solving, which may develop formal ability but does not lead to real understanding or to greater intellectual indepen dence. Mathematical research has shown a tendency toward overspecialization and over-emphasis on abstraction. Applications and connections with other fields have been neglected . . . But . . . understanding of mathematics cannot be transmitted by painless entertainment any more than education in music can be brought by the most brilliant journalism to those who never have lis tened intensively. Actual contact with the content of living mathematics is necessary. Nevertheless technicalities and detours should be avoided, and the presentation of mathematics should be just as free from emphasis on routine as from forbidding dogmatism which refuses to disclose motive or goal and which is an unfair obstacle to honest effort. (From the preface to the first edition of What is Mathematics? by Richard Courant and Herbert Robbins, 1941.
Shapes
Author: Philip Ball
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 019960486X
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 323
Book Description
"Ball takes us on an inspiring journey into the depths of nature, encompassing all the sciences, in which we discover that broad and elegant principles underpin the formation of the countless beautiful patterns around us."--Inside jacket.
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 019960486X
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 323
Book Description
"Ball takes us on an inspiring journey into the depths of nature, encompassing all the sciences, in which we discover that broad and elegant principles underpin the formation of the countless beautiful patterns around us."--Inside jacket.