Loreto Grammar School – Mathematics Reading List

Books are listed in alphabetical order by author and each entry includes a short review and a
rating system that indicates the accessibility and difficulty of the material covered:

Easy/recreational ( ), Medium ( ), Challenging/In-depth ( )

1089 and All That - A Journey into Mathematics

Acheson, David
Written in a really friendly, non-condescending manner; Acheson wants you to like his subject, but takes great care
not to force it upon you. Recommended for mathematicians looking for a spot of light relief, and non-mathematicians
who just want to know a little bit more. The style is lively and entertaining, and there are plenty of pictures and
diagrams. Chapters such as 'The Trouble with Algebra', 'On being as Small as Possible', 'Are We Nearly There?', 'What
is the secret of All Life', and 'Not Quite the Indian Rope Trick' introduce topics such as algebra, geometry, calculus,
infinity and far, far more.

Advanced Euclidian Geometry: Excursions for Students and Teachers

Posamentier, Alfred S.
Posamentier's book begins where most high-school geometry textbooks end, and presents many wonderful results
that lie just beyond their purview: the nine-point circle; the golden rectangle; the theorems of Ceva, Menelaus,
Ptolemy, Pascal, Desargues, and Brianchon; excircles and incircles; cyclic quadrilaterals; and much more. This book
provides a rich geometric feast. Theorems are fully proved, and arranged in a logically coherent sequence. It's a rich
source of supplementary material for regular sections, and an ideal textbook for the second semester of an honours-
level class, or for a student who wants to pursue the study of geometry on an independent-study basis.

An Imaginary Tale: The Story of "i" (the Square Root of Minus One)
Nahin, Paul J.
Today, complex numbers have such widespread practical use - from electrical engineering to aeronautics - that few
people would expect the story behind their derivation to be filled with adventure and enigma. In "An Imaginary Tale",
Paul Nahin tells the 2000-year-old history of one of mathematics' most elusive numbers, the square root of minus
one, also known as i. He recreates the baffling mathematical problems that conjured it up, and the colourful
characters who tried to solve them. In 1878, when two brothers stole a mathematical papyrus from the ancient
Egyptian burial site in the Valley of Kings, they led scholars to the earliest known occurrence of the square root of a
negative number. The papyrus offered a specific numerical example of how to calculate the volume of a truncated
square pyramid, which implied the need for i. In the first century, the mathematician-engineer Heron of Alexandria
encountered I in a separate project, but fudged the arithmetic; medieval mathematicians stumbled upon the concept
while grappling with the meaning of negative numbers, but dismissed their square roots as nonsense. By the time of
Descartes, a theoretical use for these elusive square roots - now called "imaginary numbers" - was suspected, but
efforts to solve them led to intense, bitter debates. The notorious i finally won acceptance and was put to use in
complex analysis and theoretical physics in Napoleonic times. Addressing readers with both a general and scholarly
interest in mathematics, Nahin weaves into this narrative entertaining historical facts and mathematical discussions,
including the application of complex numbers and functions to important problems, such as Kepler's laws of planetary
motion and ac electrical circuits. This book can be read as an engaging history, almost a biography, of one of the most
evasive and pervasive "numbers" in all of mathematics.
Archimedes: What Did He Do Besides Cry Eureka?
Stein, Sherman
Many people have heard two things about Archimedes: He was the greatest mathematician of antiquity and he ran
naked from his bath crying, “Eureka, eureka!” Few of us, layperson or mathematician, are familiar with the
accomplishments on which his reputation rests. This book describes in detail those astonishing accomplishments:
how he developed the theory of the lever and the centre of gravity; how he used the centre of gravity to study
whether a floating object would tip over; how he summed a geometric series and the squares; and how he found the
volume and surface area of a sphere.

Beyond Einstein: Superstrings and the Quest for the Final Theory
Kaku, Michio; Thompson, Jennifer
What is superstring theory and why is it important? Can superstrings offer the fulfilment of Einstein's lifelong dream
of a Theory of Everything? Co-authored by one of the leading pioneers in superstrings, Michio Kaku, this book
approaches scientific questions with the excitement of a detective story, looking at new scientific research that may
make the impossible possible.

Challenging Mathematical Problems with Elementary Solutions (Volume I)

Yaglom, A.M. and Yaglom, I.M.
If you are the slightest interested in mathematics you will find this book a feast for your mind. The problems range
from quite elementary to high level problems. You will find all the solutions in the book, with answers and hints given
separately. This is a splendid strategy which doesn't give away the thrill of the game by having the solution in the
same place as the answer. Volume one contains 100 problems in the area of probability theory and combinatorial
analysis (including geometric problems).

Challenging Mathematical Problems with Elementary Solutions (Volume II)

Yaglom, A.M. and Yaglom, I.M.
Volume two contains 74 problems on points and lines, topology, convex polygons, nondecimal counting, and other
topics. As with the first volume, hints, answers, and full solutions are given separately.

Challenging Problems in Algebra

Posamentier, Alfred S.
Stimulating collection of over 300 unusual problems involving equations and inequalities, Diophantine equations,
number theory, quadratic equations, logarithms, and more. Problems range from easy to difficult, with detailed
solutions as well as brief answers, for all problems are provided.

Challenging Problems in Geometry

Posamentier, Alfred S.
Fascinating collection of unusual problems dealing with congruence and parallelism, the Pythagorean theorem,
circles, area relationships, Ptolemy and the cyclic quadrilateral, collinearity and concurrency and many other topics.
Problems are arranged in order of difficulty and detailed solutions are provided.

“e”, The Story of a Number

Maor, Eli
The interest earned on a bank account, the arrangement of seeds in a sun flower, and the shape of the Gateway Arch
in St. Louis are all intimately connected with the mysterious number "e". In this informal history, Eli Maor portrays
the curious characters and the elegant mathematics that lie behind the number. Designed for the reader with only a
modest background in mathematics and illuminates a golden era in the age of science.
Euler: The Master of Us All
Dunham, William
Leonhard Euler was one of the most prolific mathematicians that have ever lived. This book examines the huge scope
of mathematical areas explored and developed by Euler, which includes number theory, combinatorics, geometry,
complex variables and many more. The information known to Euler over 300 years ago is discussed, and many of his
advances are reconstructed. Readers will be left in no doubt about the brilliance and pervasive influence of Euler's
work.

Fermat’s Last Theorem

Singh, Simon
The story of the solving of a puzzle that has confounded mathematicians since the 17th century. The solution of
Fermat's Last Theorem is the most important mathematical development of the 20th century. In 1963, a schoolboy
browsing in his local library stumbled across the world's greatest mathematical problem: Fermat's Last Theorem, a
puzzle that every child can understand but which has baffled mathematicians for over 300 years. Aged just ten,
Andrew Wiles dreamed that he would crack it. Wiles’s lifelong obsession with a seemingly simple challenge set by a
long-dead Frenchman is an emotional tale of sacrifice and extraordinary determination. In the end, Wiles was forced
to work in secrecy and isolation for seven years, harnessing all the power of modern maths to achieve his childhood
dream.

Five Hundred Mathematical Challenges

Barbeau, Edward; Klamkin, Murray; and McGill Moser, William
This book contains 500 problems that range over a wide spectrum of mathematics and of levels of difficulty. Some are
simple mathematical puzzlers while others are serious problems at the Olympiad level. Students of all levels of
interest and ability will be entertained by the book. For many problems, more than one solution is supplied so that
students can compare the elegance and efficiency of different mathematical approaches. A special mathematical tool
chest summarises the results and techniques needed by competition-level students. Some of the problems can be
used to provide a little spice in the regular curriculum by demonstrating the power of very basic techniques. The
problems were first published as a series of problem booklets almost twenty years ago. They have stood the test of
time and the demand for them has been steady. Their publication in book form is long overdue.

Gamma: Exploring Euler's Constant

Dyson, Freeman J.
Among the myriad of constants that appear in mathematics, pi, e, and i are the most familiar. Following closely
behind is pi, or gamma, a constant that arises in many mathematical areas yet maintains a profound sense of
mystery. In a tantalizing blend of history and mathematics, Julian Havil takes the reader on a journey through
logarithms and the harmonic series, the two defining elements of gamma, toward the first account of gamma's place
in mathematics. Introduced by the Swiss mathematician, Leonhard Euler (1707-1783), who figures prominently in this
book, gamma is defined as the limit of the sum of 1 + 1/2 + 1/3 + ...up to 1/n, minus the natural logarithm of n - the
numerical value being 0.5772156... But unlike its more celebrated colleagues pi and e, the exact nature of gamma
remains a mystery - we don't even know if gamma can be expressed as a fraction. Among the numerous topics that
arise during this historical odyssey into fundamental mathematical ideas are the Prime Number Theorem and the
most important open problem in mathematics today - the Riemann Hypothesis (though no proof of either is offered!).
Sure to be popular with not only students and instructors but all math aficionados, "Gamma" takes us through
countries, centuries, lives, and works, unfolding along the way the stories of some remarkable mathematics from
some remarkable mathematicians.
Gödel’s Proof
Hofstadter, Douglas; Nagel, Ernest; and Newman, James
In 1931 Kurt Gödel published his fundamental paper, "On Formally Undecidable Propositions of Principia
Mathematica and Related Systems". This revolutionary paper challenged certain basic assumptions underlying much
research in mathematics and logic. Gödel received public recognition of his work in 1951 when he was awarded the
first Albert Einstein Award for Achievement in the Natural Sciences - perhaps the highest award of its kind in the
United States. The award committee described his work in mathematical logic as "one of the greatest contributions to
the sciences in recent times". However, few mathematicians of the time were equipped to understand the young
scholar's complex proof. Ernest Nagel and James Newman provide a readable and accessible explanation to both
scholars and non-specialists of the main ideas and broad implications of Gödel’s discovery. It offers every educated
person with a taste for logic and philosophy the chance to understand a previously difficult and inaccessible subject.

How Long Is a Piece of String?: More Hidden Mathematics of Everyday Life

Wyndham, Jeremy and Eastaway, Rob
Why do weather forecasters get it wrong? What are the best tactics for playing "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" and
"The Weakest Link"? And what is the link between a tin of baked beans and a men's urinal? These and many other
questions are answered in this book. It is for anyone wanting to remind themselves - or discover for the first time -
that maths is relevant to almost everything we do. Dating, cooking, travelling by car, gambling and ranking sportsmen
all have links with intriguing mathematical problems that are explained in this book. It reveals the secrets behind
some of the best con tricks and the hidden workings of the taxi meter, and explains how epidemics start and stop.

Impossible?: Surprising Solutions to Counterintuitive Conundrums

Havil, Julian
In the sequel to Nonplussed! Havil once again explores a variety of mathematical results and problems that at first
appear to be self-contradictory, or stated in such a way that no solution could exist. In each case, he then either
sketches a proof of why the result is not contradictory, or explains the solution to the seemingly unsolvable problem.
Like a magician revealing secrets, Havil maintains this sense through most chapters, dropping the punch line at just
the right moment. Topics include the notorious Monty Hall three-door problem, the Gamow-Stern elevator
paradoxes, the Kruskal count card trick, Cantor's 'paradise' of alephs, and the mind-blowing Banach-Tarski paradox,
all analyzed in depth by a master who does not hold back equations that provide elegant proofs. There are surprises
on almost every page.

Journey Through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics

Dunham, William
Explores the masterpieces of mathematics, seventeen landmarks spanning 2,300 years and representing ten
mathematicians. Each of these landmarks, to some degree, changed the way the world was perceived. Each theorem
is presented with a description of the state of mathematics at the time, the development of the theorem, a
biographical sketch of the mathematician and an outline of the proof with explanation.

Mathematics and the Imagination

Kasner, Edward; Newman, James
Anyone who gambles, plays cards, loves puzzles, or simply seeks an intellectual challenge will love this amusing and
thought-provoking book. With wit and clarity, the authors deftly progress from simple arithmetic to calculus and non-
Euclidean geometry. Charming and exciting.
Mathematics: The Loss of Certainty
Kline, Morris
The heart of this book is a great narrative about the development of mathematical thought from Euclid's time to the
modern time. Though the book asks the question of why mathematics "works" in applied disciplines despite the fact
that its theoretical underpinnings have repeatedly been revealed to have substantial gaps, at bottom it works best as
a great story, wonderfully researched and coherently told, of how, and to whom, the major mathematical lightbulbs
turned on. All of the familiar names – men like Gauss, Legendre, Russell, Cantor, Leibniz, Cauchy, and Gödel – play
roles. This book provides an overview of mathematical thought, allowing you to step back and see the big picture and
understand what the big issues have been, and not requiring more than a conceptual understanding of certain
advanced mathematical concepts (e.g., calculus, trigonometry, set theory) to enjoy this book.

Mathematics: The Man-Made Universe

Stein, Sherman
Sherman K. Stein's introduction to the beauty and power of numbers examines the significance of primes, surveys the
rational and irrationals, and addresses the fundamentals of arithmetic. This highly readable volume covers a vast
array of subjects, including number theory, topology, set theory, geometry, algebra, and analysis. Additional topics
include primes, fundamental theory of arithmetic, rationals and irrationals, representation of numbers, congruence,
probability, more.

Math Wonders to Inspire Teachers and Students

Posamentier, Alfred S.
Through dozens of examples from arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and probability, Alfred S. Posamentier reveals the
amazing symmetries, patterns, processes, paradoxes, and surprises that await students and teachers who look
beyond the rote to discover wonders that have fascinated generations of great thinkers. Using the guided examples,
it helps students explore the many marvels of mathematics, including the amazing number 1089, the pigeonhole
principle, and Dürer's magic square.

Men of Mathematics
Bell, Eric Temple
This is a classic for a number of reasons. It is a one source book of mini biographies of great mathematicians. It has
been continuously in print and popular since it was published about 1937. It has a vigorous prose and is amusingly,
engagingly and memorably opinionated in assessing how these mathematical personalities dealt with life's
vicissitudes. It probably has provided an inspiration to delve further into mathematics for many teenagers, by
dramatising the life and intellectual sojourns of mathematicians. Drama, adventure, amusement, suspense, tragedy,
conflict, amazing discoveries and achievements, and writing that pulls you in.

Nonplussed!: Mathematical Proof of Implausible Ideas

Havil, Julian
Nonplussed! is a collection of lovely paradoxes: facts that are provable logically but are nevertheless seriously
counterintuitive. This fascinating expedition by Havil through some engaging and often surprising mathematical and
statistical oddities can at times be demanding, but rewarding. It is a marvellous study of some two dozen choice
mathematical problems that boggle the mind. Unlike so many books on recreational mathematics, Havil doesn't
hesitate to give crystal-clear proofs and their necessary equations. John Conway's great checker-jumping puzzle is
here, along with amazing nontransitive betting paradoxes and other confounding results almost impossible to
believe. No one interested in recreational mathematics on an intermediate advanced level should pass up this
stimulating, delightful volume.
Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics
Derbyshire, John
Bernhard Riemann was an underdog of sorts, a malnourished son of a parson who grew up to discover one of the
greatest problems in mathematics. In Prime Obsession, John Derbyshire deals brilliantly with both Riemann's life and
that problem, which was to find proof of the conjecture “all non-trivial zeros of the zeta function have real part one-
half”. That statement may be nonsense to anyone but a mathematician but Derbyshire walks the reader through the
decades of reasoning that led to the Riemann Hypothesis in a way that makes it perfectly clear. Riemann never
proved the statement and it remains unsolved to this day.
Prime Obsession offers alternating chapters of step-by-step maths and a history of 19th-century European intellectual
life, letting readers take a breather between chunks of well-written information. Derbyshire's style is accessible but
not dumbed-down, thorough but not heavy-handed. This is among the best popular treatments of an obscure
mathematical idea and allows readers to explore the theory without insisting on page after page of formulae.

Relativity: The Special and the General Theory

Einstein, Albert
Time's “Man of the Century”, Albert Einstein is the unquestioned founder of modern physics. His theory of relativity is
the most important scientific idea of the modern era. In this short book Einstein explains, using the minimum of
mathematical terms, the basic ideas and principles of the theory which has shaped the world we live in today.
Unsurpassed by any subsequent books on relativity, this remains the most popular and useful exposition of Einstein's
immense contribution to human knowledge.

Sacred Mathematics: Japanese Temple Geometry

Hidetoshi, Fukagawa; Rothman, Tony
Fukagawa Hidetoshi, a mathematics teacher, and writer Tony Rothman present a collection of Sangaku problems in
their book, Sacred Mathematics. The puzzles range from simple algebra within the grasp of any intermediate-school
student, to challenging problems that require graduate-school mathematics to solve. Copious illustrations and many
detailed solutions show the scope, complexity, and beauty of what was tackled in Japan during the Tokugawa
shogunate. Good books are not just written or compiled, they are crafted. This book is one such example, combining
mathematics, history and cultural considerations into an intriguing narrative. The writing style is appealing and the
organisation of material excellent.

The Calculus Gallery: Masterpieces from Newton to Lebesgue

Dunham, William
More than three centuries after its creation, calculus remains a dazzling intellectual achievement and the gateway
into higher mathematics. This book charts its growth and development by sampling from the work of some of its
foremost practitioners, beginning with Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in the late seventeenth century
and continuing to Henri Lebesgue at the dawn of the twentieth. William Dunham lucidly presents the definitions,
theorems, and proofs. "Students of literature read Shakespeare; students of music listen to Bach," he writes. But this
tradition of studying the major works of the "masters" is, if not wholly absent, certainly uncommon in mathematics.
This book seeks to redress that situation. Like a great museum, "The Calculus Gallery" is filled with masterpieces,
among which are Bernoulli's early attack upon the harmonic series (1689), Euler's brilliant approximation of pi (1779),
Cauchy's classic proof of the fundamental theorem of calculus (1823), Weierstrass' mind-boggling counterexample
(1872), and Baire's original "category theorem" (1899). Collectively, these selections document the evolution of
calculus from a powerful but logically chaotic subject into one whose foundations are thorough, rigorous, and
unflinching - a story of genius triumphing over some of the toughest, most subtle problems imaginable. Anyone who
has studied and enjoyed calculus will discover in these pages the sheer excitement each mathematician must have
felt when pushing into the unknown. In touring "The Calculus Gallery", we can see how it all came to be.
The Code Book: The Secret History of Codes and Code-breaking
Singh, Simon
With their inextricable links to history, mystery and war, codes and ciphers offer a rich seam of material for any
author. The relative dearth of non-technical books on the subject may be a reflection of its technical foundations,
which compel hard decisions about what to include and what to gloss over. The Code Book contains many fascinating
accounts of code-breaking in action, from its use in unmasking the Man in the Iron Mask and the defeat of the Nazis
to the breaking of a modern cipher system by a world-wide army of amateurs in 1994. It is especially good on the
most recent developments, such as quantum cryptology and the thorny civil liberties issues raised by the advent of
very secure cipher systems over the Internet.

The Colossal Book of Mathematics: Classic Puzzles, Paradoxes and Problems: Classic Puzzles, Paradoxes And
Problems
Gardner, Martin
No amateur or maths authority can be without The Colossal Book of Mathematics--the ultimate compendium from
America's best-loved mathematical expert. Whether discussing hexaflexagons or number theory, Klein bottles or the
essence of "nothing", Martin Gardner has single-handedly created the field of "recreational mathematics". The
Colossal Book of Mathematics collects together Gardner's most popular pieces from his legendary "Mathematical
Games" column, which ran in Scientific American for 25 years. Gardner's array of absorbing puzzles and mind-twisting
paradoxes opens mathematics up to the world at large, inspiring people to see past numbers and formulas and
experience the application of mathematical principles to the mysterious world around them. With articles on topics
ranging from simple algebra to the twisting surfaces of Moebius strips, from an endless game of Bulgarian solitaire to
the unreachable dream of time travel, this volume comprises a substantial and definitive monument to Gardner's
influence on mathematics, science, and culture.

The Fabulous Fibonacci Numbers

Posamentier, Alfred S. and Lehmann, Ingmar
With admirable clarity, mathematics educators Alfred Posamentier and Ingmar Lehmann take us on a fascinating tour
of the many ramifications of the Fibonacci numbers. The authors begin with a brief history of their distinguished
Italian discoverer, who, among other accomplishments, was responsible for popularizing the use of Arabic numerals
in the West. Turning to botany, the authors demonstrate, through illustrative diagrams, the unbelievable connections
between Fibonacci numbers and natural forms (pineapples, sunflowers, and daisies are just a few examples). In art,
architecture, the stock market, and other areas of society and culture, they point out numerous examples of the
Fibonacci sequence as well as its derivative, the "golden ratio." And of course in mathematics, as the authors amply
demonstrate, there are almost boundless applications in probability, number theory, geometry, algebra, and Pascal’s
triangle, to name a few. Accessible and appealing to even the most math-phobic individual, this fun and enlightening
book allows the reader to appreciate the elegance of mathematics and its amazing applications in both natural and
cultural settings.

The Mathematical Universe: An Alphabetical Journey Through the Great Proofs, Problems and Personalities
Dunham, William
From the author of Journey Through Genius comes a new exploration of mathematics. This excursion takes the
reader through mathematical concepts and issues - delving into everything from Russell's Paradox to the wonders of
the Fibonacci series. The chapters are arranged alphabetically by subject, and offer a rare profile of the conundrums,
disputes, proofs and solutions that have shaped the world of mathematics today. Chapters are designed to fit
together with elementary ideas appearing relatively early.
The Pythagorean Theorem: A 4000-Year History
Maor, Eli
By any measure, the Pythagorean theorem is the most famous statement in all of mathematics, one remembered
from high school geometry class by even the most math-phobic students. Well over four hundred proofs are known
to exist, including ones by a twelve-year-old Einstein, a young blind girl, Leonardo da Vinci, and a future president of
the United States. Here - perhaps for the first time in English - is the full story of this famous theorem. Although
attributed to Pythagoras, the theorem was known to the Babylonians more than a thousand years before him. He
may have been the first to prove it, but his proof - if indeed he had one - is lost to us. Euclid immortalized it as
Proposition 47 in his Elements, and it is from there that it has passed down to generations of students. The theorem
is central to almost every branch of science, pure or applied. It has even been proposed as a means to communicate
with extraterrestrial beings, if and when we discover them. And, expanded to four-dimensional space-time, it plays a
pivotal role in Einstein's theory of relativity. In this book, Eli Maor brings to life many of the characters that played a
role in the development of the Pythagorean theorem, providing a fascinating backdrop to perhaps our oldest
enduring mathematical legacy.

To Infinity and Beyond: A Cultural History of the Infinite

Maor, Eli
Eli Maor examines the role of infinity in mathematics and geometry and its cultural impact on the arts and sciences.
He evokes the profound intellectual impact the infinite has exercised on the human mind--from the "horror infiniti" of
the Greeks to the works of M. C. Escher; from the ornamental designs of the Moslems, to the sage Giordano Bruno,
whose belief in an infinite universe led to his death at the hands of the Inquisition. But above all, the book describes
the mathematician's fascination with infinity--a fascination mingled with puzzlement.

Trigonometric Delights
Maor, Eli
Trigonometry has always been the black sheep of mathematics. It has a reputation as a dry and difficult subject, a
glorified form of geometry complicated by tedious computation. In this book, Eli Maor draws on his remarkable
talents as a guide to the world of numbers to dispel that view. Rejecting the usual arid descriptions of sine, cosine,
and their trigonometric relatives, he brings the subject to life in a compelling blend of history, biography, and
mathematics. He presents both a survey of the main elements of trigonometry and a unique account of its vital
contribution to science and social development. Woven together in a tapestry of entertaining stories, scientific
curiosities, and educational insights, the book more than lives up to the title Trigonometric Delights.

Unknown Quantity: A Real and Imagined History of Algebra

Derbyshire, John
In this elegantly-written and engaging book, John Derbyshire gives expert form to the beauty and mystery of the most
abstract of mathematical disciplines: algebra. Derbyshire brings to life the cast of extraordinary and bold historical
characters each of whom, though the centuries and across the world, played a role in its genesis: the ancient father of
algebra, Diophantus; the dashing, romantic Evariste Galois, who developed algebra to ever higher levels of
abstraction, fell in unrequited love and died, age twenty, in a pistol-duel at dawn; and the dazzling and tragic Hypatia,
probably the only mathematician in history to be skinned alive by an angry mob. Far from being dry or irrelevant
pursuits, these adventures in algebra heralded nothing less than a revolution. Algebraists not only gave birth to a new
way of thinking about and understand basic numeric concepts, but they also changed forever our very perception of
the world around us.
What Is Mathematics?: An Elementary Approach to Ideas and Methods
Courant, Richard and Robbins, Herbert (authors); Stewart, Ian (editor)
Einstein writes, “Easily understandable.” And Herman Weyl, “It is a work of high perfection.” It is both for beginners
and for scholars. The first edition by Courant and Robbins, 1941, has been revised, with love and care, by Ian Stewart.
Of the sciences, mathematics stands out in the way some central ideas and tools are timeless. Key ideas from our first
mathematical experiences, perhaps early in life, often have more permanence this way. While the fads do change in
mathematics, there are some landmarks that remain, and which inspire generations. And they are as useful now as
they were at their inception, the fundamentals of numbers, of geometry, of calculus and differential equations. You
find the facts, presented in clear and engaging prose, and with lots of illustrations.

Why Do Buses Come in Threes?: The Hidden Mathematics of Everyday Life

Wyndham, Jeremy
With a foreword by Tim Rice, this book will change the way you see the world. Why is it better to buy a lottery ticket
on a Thursday? Why are showers always too hot or too cold? And what's the connection between Rob Andrew taking
a conversion in rugby and a tourist trying to get the best photograph of Nelson's Column? These and many other
fascinating questions are answered in this entertaining and highly informative book ideal for anyone wanting to
remind themselves - or discover for the first time - that maths is relevant to almost everything that we do. As
explained here, dating, cooking, travelling, gambling and even life-saving are all linked with intriguing mathematical
problems. Whether you have a PhD in astrophysics or haven't touched a maths problem since your school days, this
book will give you a fresh understanding of the hidden maths in the world around you.