Showing titles in Mathematics

For going on two decades, Scientific American’s “Ask the Experts” column has been answering reader questions on all fields of science. We’ve taken your questions from the basic to the esoteric and reached out to top scientists, professors, and researchers to find out why the sky is blue or whether we really only use 10 percent of our brains. Now, we’ve combed through our archives and have compiled some of the most interesting questions (and answers) into a series of books.

Are you fascinated by the laws of nature, quantum physics, and its basic concepts that seem meaningless? Quantum mechanics is a field that attempts to understand the behavior of subatomic objects using mathematical notions. The book explains uncertainty and time dependence by further elaborating on the principles of quantum states. It also describes the entanglement of particle and wave states, thereby offering interested listeners the possibility of understanding physics at a slower tempo.

"The Double-Edged Sword of Artificial Intelligence: Progress or Peril?" explores the fascinating world of AI, uncovering its incredible potential and the risks it poses to society. From automation and ethics to job displacement and superintelligence, this thought-provoking book examines whether AI is a revolutionary force for good or a looming threat to humanity. Perfect for tech enthusiasts, business leaders, and anyone curious about the future of AI, this book provides a balanced perspective on one of the most critical debates of our time.

Our universe has multiple origin stories, from religious creation myths to the Big Bang of scientists. But if we leave those behind and start from nothing – no matter, no cosmos, not even empty space – could we create a universe using only maths? In this new mathematical origin story, mathematician and award-winning novelist Manil Suri creates a natural progression of ideas needed to design our world, starting with numbers and continuing through geometry, algebra, and beyond.

xGenius explores the interplay between analysis, tactics, and decision-making. It seeks to put the sport of football under the microscope with the aim of getting closer to the ultimate truth of what makes players, managers and teams successful. What, ultimately, wins football matches. Packed with examples from the Premier League and beyond, xGenius shows how xG and other performance analysis tools are helping answer previously unanswerable questions.

The aim of this book is to explain, carefully but not technically, the differences between advanced, research-level mathematics and the sort of mathematics we learn at school. The most fundamental differences are philosophical, and listeners of this book will emerge with a clearer understanding of paradoxical-sounding concepts such as infinity, curved space, and imaginary numbers. The first few chapters are about general aspects of mathematical thought.

Do you like to make uninformed, often poor decisions? Are you okay with being manipulated by skewed charts and diagrams? How about being lied to about the effectiveness of a product? Statistics can help you make exponentially better calls on what to buy, who to listen to, and what to believe.

Enhance your logic, reason, judgment, and wisdom. Increase your ability to create concise and reasoned arguments using data and evidence to get a genuine conclusion. The Systems Thinker: Analytical Skills aims to raise the level of your mental performance by focusing on the fundamentals of how to use your mind effectively.

Are you new to Programming? Do you have little to 'zero' experience with computer programming? Do you want to quickly learn the basics in Python programming? If your answer is 'yes' to all the above, then this audiobook is for you. It will explain in clear-concise detail the fundamentals of python programming so that you can begin to write your own Python programs.

Michael Schneider leads us on a spectacular journey along the numbers one through 10 to explore the mathematical principles made visible in flowers, shells, crystals, plants, and the human body, expressed in the symbolic language of folk sayings and fairy tales, myth and religion, art and architecture. This is a new view of mathematics, not the one we learned at school but a comprehensive guide to the patterns that recur through the universe and underlie human affairs.

The study of geometry is at least 2500 years old, and it is within this field that the concept of mathematical proof first arose. To this day geometry remains a very active area of research in mathematics. This Very Short Introduction covers the areas of mathematics falling under geometry, starting with topics such as Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometries, and ranging to curved spaces, projective geometry in Renaissance art, and geometry of space-time inside a black hole. Throughout, Maciej Dunajski outlines the role geometry plays in the broader context of science and art.

Have you been learning to play chess and discovered that you need some guidance on getting off on the right foot? Always feel like you’re playing from behind, no matter how hard you try to start strong? If you’re in need of a simple guide to teach you the basics and variations of the most effective opening gambits, then Chess Openings for Beginners is the primer for you!

Alan Turing can be regarded as one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century. But who was Turing, and what did he achieve during his tragically short life of 41 years? Best known as the genius who broke Germany's most secret codes during the war of 1939-45, Turing was also the father of the modern computer. Today, all who 'click-to-open' are familiar with the impact of Turing's ideas. Here, B. Jack Copeland provides an account of Turing's life and work, exploring the key elements of his life-story in tandem with his leading ideas and contributions.

From sonnets to fairytales to experimental French literature, Once Upon a Prime takes us on an unforgettable journey through the books we thought we knew, revealing new layers of beauty and wonder. Professor Hart shows how maths and literature are complementary parts of the same quest, to understand human life and our place in the universe.

Probing the life and work of Kurt Gödel, Incompleteness indelibly portrays the tortured genius whose vision rocked the stability of mathematical reasoning—and brought him to the edge of madness.

Change Is the Only Constant is an engaging and eloquent exploration of the intersection between calculus and daily life, complete with Orlin's sly humor and wonderfully bad drawings.

Imagine being the person everyone trusts to make sound, smart choices. This book goes beyond theory—it’s a guide to real-life application. Master Game Theory delivers practical, down-to-earth insights that have already transformed countless lives and can change yours too. With this book, you’ll have an arsenal of strategic tools at your fingertips, giving you newfound confidence and control over every decision.

What has counting meant to different cultures and different individuals? In this book, historian and mathematician Benjamin Wardhaugh explores stories from all over the world and from every period of human history, from the African Stone Age to cyberspace; from Assyrian kings to Chinese peasants. Weaving these histories together, Wardhaugh shows the ways in which counting has been continually reinvented over time, through language, writing, counters and machines.

In The Market Revolution, one of America's most distinguished historians, Charles Sellers, offers a major reinterpretation of a pivotal moment in United States history. Based on impeccable scholarship and written with grace and style, this volume provides a sweeping political and social history of the entire period from the diplomacy of John Quincy Adams to the birth of Mormonism under Joseph Smith, from Jackson's slaughter of the Indians in Georgia and Florida to the Depression of 1819, and from the growth of women's rights to the spread of the temperance movement.

What if everything in life could be reduced to a simple formula? What if numbers were able to tell us which partners we were best matched with – not just in terms of attractiveness, but for a long-term committed marriage? Or if they could say which films would be the biggest hits at the box office, and what changes could be made to those films to make them even more successful? Or even who out of us is likely to commit certain crimes, and when?