The Number Mysteries: A Mathematical Odyssey through Everyday Life

by Marcus Du Sautoy (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2011

  $3.77

  From the author of `The Music of the Primes' and `Finding Moonshine' comes a short, lively book on five mathematical problems that just refuse be solved - and on how many everyday problems can be solved by maths.

  Every time we download a song from Itunes, take a flight across the Atlantic or talk on our mobile phones, we are relying on great mathematical inventions. Maths may fail to provide answers to various of its own problems, but it can provide answers to problems that don't seem to be its own - how prime numbers are the key to Real Madrid's success, to secrets on the Internet and to the survival of insects in the forests of North America.

  In `The Number Mysteries', Marcus du Sautoy explains how to fake a Jackson Pollock; how to work out whether or not the universe has a hole in the middle of it; how to make the world's roundest football. He shows us how to see shapes in four dimensions - and how maths makes you a better gambler. He tells us about the quest to predict the future - from the flight of asteroids to an impending storm, from bending a ball like Beckham to predicting population growth.

  It's a book to dip in to; a book to challenge and puzzle - and a book that gives us answers.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2010

  $3.28

  From the most famous mathematician in Britain comes the ultimate handikit to mathematics. From hopscotch to Wayne Rooney with lots and lots of games to play, The Number Mysteries shows why mathematics really is at the heart of everything we do. 'Mind-bending, fascinating and useful too. Maths didn't used to be this much fun.' Alan Davies. We are all taught how fundamental maths is to the world we live. But did you know that Wayne Rooney solves a quadratic equation every time he connects with a cross to put the ball in the back of the net? That we use prime numbers when we shop on the Internet? Or that you can win $1 million just by solving one of the five puzzles in The Num8er My5teries? In The Num8er My5teries, Marcus du Sautoy - mathematician, footballer and amateur musician - brings to life the beauty behind five mathematical puzzles that have contributed to our understanding of the world around us and have helped develop the technology to cope with it. With load of games to play and puzzles to solve this is a maths book for all ages from 1-101. In The Num8er My5teries you will learn everything from how to better your chances at Rock, Paper, Scissors and break uncrackable codes, to uncovering the shape of the universe and predict the future. It will also show you how maths really is at the heart of everything that we do.

• New

  Paperback
  2011

  $12.39

  From the author of `The Music of the Primes' and `Finding Moonshine' comes a short, lively book on five mathematical problems that just refuse be solved - and on how many everyday problems can be solved by maths.

  Every time we download a song from Itunes, take a flight across the Atlantic or talk on our mobile phones, we are relying on great mathematical inventions. Maths may fail to provide answers to various of its own problems, but it can provide answers to problems that don't seem to be its own - how prime numbers are the key to Real Madrid's success, to secrets on the Internet and to the survival of insects in the forests of North America.

  In `The Number Mysteries', Marcus du Sautoy explains how to fake a Jackson Pollock; how to work out whether or not the universe has a hole in the middle of it; how to make the world's roundest football. He shows us how to see shapes in four dimensions - and how maths makes you a better gambler. He tells us about the quest to predict the future - from the flight of asteroids to an impending storm, from bending a ball like Beckham to predicting population growth.

  It's a book to dip in to; a book to challenge and puzzle - and a book that gives us answers.