| Description |
1 online resource |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Note |
Print version record. |
| Summary |
Despite what we may sometimes imagine, popular mathematics writing didn't begin with Martin Gardner. In fact, it has a rich tradition stretching back hundreds of years. This entertaining and enlightening anthology--the first of its kind--gathers nearly one hundred fascinating selections from the past 500 years of popular math writing, bringing to life a little-known side of math history. Ranging from the late fifteenth to the late twentieth century, and drawing from books, newspapers, magazines, and websites, A Wealth of Numbers includes recreational, classroom, and work mathematics. |
| Contents |
Cover; Contents; Preface; 1 ""Sports and Pastimes, Done by Number"": Mathematical Tricks, Mathematical Games; The Well Spring of Sciences: Humfrey Baker, 1564; Mathematical Recreations: Henry van Etten, 1633; ""How Prodigiously Numbers Do Increase"": William Leybourne, 1667; Profitable and Delightful Problems: Jacques Ozanam, 1708; Lotteries and Mountebanks: L. Despiau, 1801; Dodging the Mastodon and the Plesiosaurus: Henry Ernest Dudeney, 1917; ""Plenty of Interesting Things to Be Discovered"": NRICH, 1998-2004; 2 ""Much Necessary for All States of Men"": From Arithmetic to Algebra. |
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Addition and Subtraction: Robert Recorde, 1543Multiplication and Division: Thomas Masterson, 1592; Reducing Fractions: John Tapp, 1621; Decimal Fractions: Edward Hatton, 1695; Extracting Square Roots: William Banson, 1760; The Rule of Three: Wardhaugh Thompson, 1771; The Rule of Three, in Verse: Nathan Withy, 1792; ""The First Analysts"": Joseph Fenn, 1775; Quadratic Equations: The Popular Educator, 1855; Cubic Equations for the Practical Man: J.E. Thompson, 1931; 3 ""A Goodly Struggle"": Problems, Puzzles, and Challenges; The Ladies' Diary: 1798; The Girl's Own Book: Lydia Marie Child, 1835. |
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The Boy's Own Magazine: 1855""The Analyst"": 1874; Can You Solve It?: Arthur Hirschberg, 1926; Mathematical Challenges: 1989; 4 ""Drawyng, Measuring and Proporcion"": Geometry and Trigonometry; Points and Lines: Robert Recorde, 1551; Squares and Triangles: Thomas Rudd, 1650; Pythagoras's Theorem: Edmund Scarburgh, 1705; Trigonometrical Definitions: Edward Wells, 1714; The Resolution of Triangles: Hugh Worthington, 1780; Introduction to Spherical Geometry: Horatio Nelson Robinson, 1854; Napier's Rules: Alan Clive Gardner, 1956. |
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5 Maps, Monsters, and Riddles: The Worlds of Mathematical PopularizationThe Athenian Mercury: 1691-1697; Newton for the Ladies: Francesco Algarotti, 1739; Maps and Mazes: W.W. Rouse Ball, 1892; ""Einstein's Real Achievement"": Oliver Lodge, 1921; Riddles in Mathematics: Eugene P. Northrop, 1945; Fermat's Last Theorem: Hans Rademacher and Otto Toeplitz, 1957; Where Does It End?: Dan Pedoe, 1958; Yamátárájabhánasalagám: Sherman K. Stein, 1963; Saddles and Soap Bubbles: Iakov Isaevich Khurgin, 1974; ""The Monster"" Unveiled: The Times, 1980. |
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6 ""To Ease and Expedite the Work"": Mathematical Instruments and How to Use Them""Cards for the Sea"": Martín Cortés, 1561; Making a Horizontal Sundial: Thomas Fale, 1593; Speaking-Rods: Seth Partridge, 1648; Telescopes Refracting and Reflecting: The Juvenile Encyclopedia, 1800-1801; Scales Simple and Diagonal: J.F. Heather, 1888; Making a Star Clock: Roy Worvill, 1974; PC Astronomy: Peter Duffet-Smith, 1997; 7 ""How Fine a Mind"": Mathematicians Past; The Labyrinth and Abyss of Infinity: Voltaire, 1733; ""It Must Have Commenced with Mankind"": Charles Hutton, 1796. |
| Subject |
Mathematics.
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Mathematics -- History -- Problems, exercises, etc.
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SCIENCE -- Essays.
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SCIENCE -- Reference.
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MATHEMATICS -- Essays.
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Mathematics. (OCoLC)fst01012163
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Mathematics / History / Problems, exercises, etc.
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| Genre/Form |
Electronic books.
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| Added Author |
Wardhaugh, Benjamin, 1979-
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| Other Form: |
Print version: Wealth of numbers. Princeton : Princeton University Press, ©2012 9780691147758 (DLC) 2011038672 (OCoLC)755640747 |
| ISBN |
9781400841981 (electronic bk.) |
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1400841984 (electronic bk.) |
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