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...'