The Best Writing on Mathematics 2017

by Mircea Pitici (Editor)

Overview

The year's finest mathematics writing from around the world

This annual anthology brings together the year’s finest mathematics writing from around the world. Featuring promising new voices alongside some of the foremost names in the field, The Best Writing on Mathematics 2017 makes available to a wide audience many articles not easily found anywhere else—and you don’t need to be a mathematician to enjoy them. These writings offer surprising insights into the nature, meaning, and practice of mathematics today. They delve into the history, philosophy, teaching, and everyday occurrences of math, and take readers behind the scenes of today’s hottest mathematical debates.

Here Evelyn Lamb describes the excitement of searching for incomprehensibly large prime numbers, Jeremy Gray speculates about who would have won math’s highest prize—the Fields Medal—in the nineteenth century, and Philip Davis looks at mathematical results and artifacts from a business and marketing viewpoint. In other essays, Noson Yanofsky explores the inherent limits of knowledge in mathematical thinking, Jo Boaler and Lang Chen reveal why finger-counting enhances children’s receptivity to mathematical ideas, and Carlo Séquin and Raymond Shiau attempt to discover how the Renaissance painter Fra Luca Pacioli managed to convincingly depict his famous rhombicuboctahedron, a twenty-six-sided Archimedean solid. And there’s much, much more.

In addition to presenting the year’s most memorable writings on mathematics, this must-have anthology includes a bibliography of other notable writings and an introduction by the editor, Mircea Pitici. This book belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in where math has taken us—and where it is headed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781400888559
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	10/31/2017
Series:	The Best Writing on Mathematics , #6
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	248
File size:	31 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Mircea Pitici teaches advanced calculus at Syracuse University. He holds a PhD in mathematics education from Cornell University and is working on a master's degree in library and information science at Syracuse's iSchool. He has edited The Best Writing on Mathematics since 2010.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Mircea Pitici ix
Mathematical Products Philip J. Davis 1
The Largest Known Prime Number Evelyn Lamb 7
A Unified Theory of Randomness Kevin Hartnett 10
An “Infinitely Rich” Mathematician Turns 100
Siobhan Roberts 24
Inverse Yogiisms Lloyd N. Trefethen 28
Ramanujan in Bronze Gerald L. Alexanderson 37
Creating Symmetric Fractals Larry Riddle 45
Projective Geometry in the Moon Tilt Illusion Marc Frantz 54
Girih for Domes: Analysis of Three Iranian Domes Mohamm adhossein Kasraei, Yahya Nourian, and Mohamm adjavad Mahdavinejad 64
Why Kids Should Use Their Fingers in Math Class Jo Boaler and Lang Chen 76
Threshold Concepts and Undergraduate Mathematics Teaching Sinéad Breen and Ann O’Shea 82
Rising above a Cause-and-Effect Stance in Mathematics Education Research John Mason 93
How to Find the Logarithm of Any Number Using Nothing but a Piece of String Viktor Blåsjö 99
Rendering Pacioli’s Rhombicuboctahedron Carlo H. Séquin and Raymond Shiau 106
Who Would Have Won the Fields Medal 150 Years Ago? Jeremy Gray 121
Paradoxes, Contradictions, and the Limits of Science Noson S. Yanofsky 130
Stairway to Heaven: The Abstract Method and Levels of Abstraction in Mathematics Jean-Pierre Marquis 145
Are Our Brains Bayesian? Robert Bain 172
Great Expectations: The Past, Present, and Future of Prediction Graham Southorn 182
Contributors 193
Notable Writings 199
Acknowledgments 221
Credits 223
Introduction

Editorial Reviews

09/25/2017
With a shrewd eye for topics both obscure and practical, Pitici chooses a variety of thoroughly accessible works that tie abstract math to the real world in this eighth installment of the annual series. In “Why Kids Should Use Their Fingers in Math Class,” Jo Boaler and Lang Chen present solid neurological evidence to support the value of counting on your fingers, noting that “visual math is powerful for all learners.” Graham Southorn’s “Great Expectations: The Past, Present, and Future” makes comprehensible the best and worst ways to predict events accurately. In “A Unified Theory of Randomness,” Kevin Hartnett looks at how random numbers can be used to explore an array of subjects, including one-dimensional paths in nature, two-dimensional surface growth, and quantum strings. Even Yogi Berra comes under consideration, as Lloyd N. Trefethen applies some of the late baseball star’s malapropistic wit to the study of mathematical statements that are literally true but convey something that’s false. Other essays cover topics such as prime numbers, Iranian decorative tiling, time travel, and Renaissance art. Pitici gives readers an entertaining look at the odd, the amusing, and the utilitarian without requiring any more than a readerly curiosity. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"The most striking thing about this collection is how beautiful the writing is. The articles cover a wide variety of topics, with some biographical sketches, some math education, some philosophy, and a moderate amount of actual mathematics. . . . There’s something here for everyone."—-Allen Stenger, MAA Reviews

"As ever, there is a substantial variety of style and content, and personally I found plenty to enjoy in this selection."—-Gerry Leversha, Mathematical Gazette

"Do not hesitate and read it with great pleasure; you do not need to be a mathematician to enjoy it!"—-Aleksandar M. Nikolić, MathSciNet

From the Publisher