When Least Is Best: How Mathematicians Discovered Many Clever Ways to Make Things as Small. Paul J. Nahin

When Least Is Best: How Mathematicians Discovered Many Clever Ways to Make Things as Small



Download When Least Is Best: How Mathematicians Discovered Many Clever Ways to Make Things as Small



When Least Is Best: How Mathematicians Discovered Many Clever Ways to Make Things as Small Paul J. Nahin ebook djvu
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Language: English
Page: 400
ISBN: 0691130523, 9780691130521

From

How can a factory manager minimize breakdowns? How can a disoriented hiker reach her car in the least possible time? In answering questions such as these, engineer Nahin delivers maximal mathematical enjoyment with minimal perplexity and boredom. Classical minimization problems allow Nahin to showcase the ingenuity of ancient mathematicians--and to let general readers in on the thrill of riding high-school geometry and algebra to breakthrough insights. Knowledgeable readers will probably anticipate the eventual transition from subtle geometry to complex calculus. But even specialists may learn from Nahin's chronicle of how the often-forgotten tangents of Pierre de Fermat paved the way to the calculus of Newton and Leibniz. In addition, Nahin deftly interweaves episodes from the lives of its discoverers: a rash Belgian theorist loses his sight staring at the sun; a jealous Swiss mathematician denies his own son credit for groundbreaking work. A refreshingly lucid and humanizing approach to mathematics. Bryce ChristensenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to the

edition.

Review

This book was terrific fun to read! I thought I would skim the chapters to write my review, but I was hooked by the preface, and read through the first 100 pages in one sitting. . . . [Nahin shows] obvious delight and enjoyment--he is having fun and it is contagious. -- Bonnie Shulman, MAA OnlineWhen Least is Best is clearly the result of immense effort. . . . [Nahin] just seems to get better and better. . . . The book is really a popular book of mathematics that touches on a broad range of problems associated with optimization. -- Dennis S. Bernstein, IEEE Control Systems Magazine[When Least is Best is] a wonderful sourcebook from projects and is just plain fun to read. -- ChoiceThis book is highly recommended. -- Clark Kimberling, Mathematical IntelligenerA valuable and stimulating introduction to problems that have fascinated mathematicians and physicists for millennia. -- D.R. Wilkins, Contemporary PhysicsNahin delivers maximal mathematical enjoyment with minimal perplexity and boredom. . . . [He lets] general readers in on the thrill of riding high-school geometry and algebra to breakthrough insights. . . . A refreshingly lucid and humanizing approach to mathematics. -- BooklistAnyone with a modest command of calculus, a curiosity about how mathematics developed, and a pad of paper for calculations will enjoy Nahin's lively book. His enthusiasm is infectious, his writing style is active and fluid, and his examples always have a point. . . . [H]e loves to tell stories, so even the familiar is enjoyably refreshed. -- Donald R. Sherbert, SIAM Review



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