Amazon.co.uk Review
"Pure mathematics," Albert Einstein once remarked, "is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas." In The Universe and the Teacup, Los Angeles Times science writer K. C. Cole discusses some of the ways this "poetry" can be used to look at science and other realms of experience.
Mathematics, Cole explains, enables us to "translate the complexity of the world into manageable patterns," whether we're trying to comprehend the risks of smoking or the usefulness of DNA matches in criminal investigations. Cole also looks at how mathematical principles apply inunexpected fields. Without relying on a single equation, Cole's gently humorous prose helps make mathematics unthreatening to laypeople, enabling them to better understand the world in which they live. --Amazon.com
Dava Sobel, author of LONGITUDE
'...stands blissfully apart from all the recent books that have tried to analyse, exploit or quell the epidemic fear of mathematics...'
Simon Singh, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, author of FERMAT'S LAST THEOREM
* "An elegant study of the way maths can provide solutions to everyday problems...always highly readable"
Product Description
Mathematics, the most robust and breathtaking creation of the human mind, reveals the tiniest particles that make up our world and takes us to the farthest points of the universe. Its power is daunting. In this work, the author seeks to demystify mathematics using real-life concepts such as risk, scale, cause-and-chance and probability to help us to break the mind barrier; in its elegance, maths simplifies problems so we can understand and solve them. Our search for the truths of the universe could not succeed without it. Einstein's theory of relativity would never have worked had it not been for a little-known woman mathematician who, in the 19th century, discovered the crucial importance of symmetry to maths and physics. The story of Emmy Noether and Albert Einstein ends in an amazing journey that begins in the human mind and finishes at the edges of the universe.
From the Author
Of mind, math , matter , O.J. , Newt and the Golden Rule
What's the 1995 Republican congressional sweep got to do with Wonderbra sales? Why is proving O.J.'s guilt the same as proving the existence of a subatomic particle called the top quark? How did mathematics reveal that following the Golden Rule is the surest strategy for success? I wrote this book for friends who think I'm probably nuts when I bring math into whatever we're talking about--be it love, philosophy, politics, food. The ideas of mathematics are no more arcane or obscure than the ideas explored in theater, poetry, music. Yet this wonderful tool for understanding the crazy world around us is almost universally ignored. Consider this book, then, a kind of math for poets. It's about ideas, not numbers (although I'd also argue that numbers are ideas). It's also, of course, about the truth and beauty in the laws of physics, about giants and flea circuses, about teacups and universes, about I.Q. scores and affirmative action. It's about why geometry grows on trees and why absolutely anything can grow up to be a black hole. I love the comments I've received about this book from great scientists and mathematicians, but most of all, I bask in the praise of my friends who are artists, novelists, lawyers, actors, musicians... These are the people who managed to put my math book (!) on the best seller list of the Los Angeles Times! Let me hear your comments, too. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
What's the 1995 Republican congressional sweep got to do with Wonderbra sales? Why is proving O.J.'s guilt the same as proving the existence of a subatomic particle called the top quark? How did mathematics reveal that following the Golden Rule is the surest strategy for success? I wrote this book for friends who think I'm probably nuts when I bring math into whatever we're talking about--be it love, philosophy, politics, food. The ideas of mathematics are no more arcane or obscure than the ideas explored in theater, poetry, music. Yet this wonderful tool for understanding the crazy world around us is almost universally ignored. Consider this book, then, a kind of math for poets. It's about ideas, not numbers (although I'd also argue that numbers are ideas). It's also, of course, about the truth and beauty in the laws of physics, about giants and flea circuses, about teacups and universes, about I.Q. scores and affirmative action. It's about why geometry grows on trees and why absolutely anything can grow up to be a black hole. I love the comments I've received about this book from great scientists and mathematicians, but most of all, I bask in the praise of my friends who are artists, novelists, lawyers, actors, musicians... These are the people who managed to put my math book (!) on the best seller list of the Los Angeles Times! Let me hear your comments, too. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
K C Cole is a science writer and editor at the LOS ANGELES TIMES. She is the recipient of the 1995 American Institute of Physics Award for Best Science Writing.
