Math Without Numbers by Milo Beckman

$39.99 AUD

Category: Mathematics

The only numbers in this book are the page numbers. Math Without Numbers is a vivid and wholly original guide to the three main branches of abstract math - topology, analysis, and algebra - which turn out to be surprisingly easy to grasp. Milo Beckman upends the conventional approach to mathematics, in viting you to think creatively about shape and dimension, the infinite and infinitesimal, symmetries, proofs, and how these concepts all fit together. How many shapes are there? Is anything bigger than infinity? And can mathematics even be described as 'true'? ...Show more

Woo's Wonderful World of Maths by Eddie Woo

$34.99 AUD

Category: Mathematics

Why is a rainbow curved? Why aren't left-handers extinct? How is a sunflower like a synchronised swimmer? Why is 'e' a magic number?The answer to these questions is contained within one simple word: MATHS. Because maths is all about patterns, and our universe is extraordinarily patterned.With enthusiasm , humour and heart, Eddie Woo shows how card tricks, conspiracy theories, teacups, killer butterflies, music, lightning and so much more illuminate the spellbinding world of maths that surrounds us.'I never thought I'd read a maths book cover to cover, let alone sing its praises. Eddie Woo makes maths fun, accessible and relevant. Now we can all benefit from his extraordinary skill as a teacher.'JENNY BROCKIE, journalist and TV host'Not just a great teacher, Woo's Wonderful World of Maths shows Eddie to be a storyteller too. Is there anything the Woo cannot do?'ADAM SPENCER, Ambassador for Mathematics, University of Sydney ...Show more

How to Make the World Add Up by Tim Harford

$32.99 AUD

Category: Mathematics

'If you aren't in love with stats before reading this book, you will be by the time you're done. Powerful, persuasive, and in these truth-defying times, indispensable' - Caroline Criado Perez, author of Invisible Women 'Fabulously readable, lucid, witty and authoritative . . . Every politician and jour nalist should be made to read this book, but everyone else will get so much pleasure and draw so much strength from the joyful way it dispels the clouds of deceit and delusion' - Stephen Fry When was the last time you read a grand statement, accompanied by a large number, and wondered whether it could really be true? Statistics are vital in helping us tell stories - we see them in the papers, on social media, and we hear them used in everyday conversation - and yet we doubt them more than ever. But numbers - in the right hands - have the power to change the world for the better. Contrary to popular belief, good statistics are not a trick, although they are a kind of magic. Good statistics are not smoke and mirrors; in fact, they help us see more clearly. Good statistics are like a telescope for an astronomer, a microscope for a bacteriologist, or an X-ray for a radiologist. If we are willing to let them, good statistics help us see things about the world around us and about ourselves - both large and small - that we would not be able to see in any other way. In How to Make the World Add Up, Tim Harford draws on his experience as both an economist and presenter of the BBC's radio show 'More or Less'. He takes us deep into the world of disinformation and obfuscation, bad research and misplaced motivation to find those priceless jewels of data and analysis that make communicating with numbers worthwhile. Harford's characters range from the art forger who conned the Nazis to the stripper who fell in love with the most powerful congressman in Washington, to famous data detectives such as John Maynard Keynes, Daniel Kahneman and Florence Nightingale. He reveals how we can evaluate the claims that surround us with confidence, curiosity and a healthy level of scepticism. Using ten simple rules for understanding numbers - plus one golden rule - this extraordinarily insightful book shows how if we keep our wits about us, thinking carefully about the way numbers are sourced and presented, we can look around us and see with crystal clarity how the world adds up. ...Show more

Maths On The Back Of An Envelope: Clever Ways To (Roughly) Calculate Anything by Rob Eastaway

$19.99 AUD

Category: Mathematics

‘Another terrific book by Rob Eastaway' SIMON SINGH ‘A delightfully accessible guide to how to play with numbers' HANNAH FRY How many cats are there in the world? What's the chance of winning the lottery twice? And just how long does it take to count to a million? Learn how to tackle tricky maths p roblems with nothing but the back of an envelope, a pencil and some good old-fashioned brain power. Join Rob Eastaway as he takes an entertaining look at how to figure without a calculator. Packed with amusing anecdotes, quizzes, and handy calculation tips for every situation, Maths on the Back of an Envelope is an invaluable introduction to the art of estimation, and a welcome reminder that sometimes our own brain is the best tool we have to deal with numbers. ...Show more

Pluses and Minuses: How Maths Solves Our Problems by Stefan Buijsman; Andy Brown (Translator)

$32.99 AUD

Category: Mathematics

You look up from your phone for a moment to order an espresso. It's made with one of those large stainless-steel coffee makers that heats the water until it's precisely the right temperature. It keeps track of how fast the water warms up and uses that to calculate whether it needs to apply more or less heat, until the perfect temperature is attained. You're not aware of any of it, but right in front of your nose those formulae that your maths teacher talked about are being used to make your cup of coffee. Thousands of years ago, the inhabitants of Mesopotamia became the first humans to use numbers. Since then, mathematics has become an unstoppable force. It's behind almost everything, from search engines to cruise control, from coffee-makers to timetables. But now that we hardly ever need to do arithmetic, how relevant is mathematics to everyday life? Drawing on examples within the interconnected fields of philosophy, psychology and history, Dr Stefan Buijsman explores the role mathematics plays in the modern world. Stefan Buijsman gained a master's degree in philosophy in Leiden at the age of eighteen. He then moved to Sweden, where he gained his doctorate within eighteen months, making him one of the youngest ever PhDs. He is currently studying the philosophy of mathematics as a post-doctoral researcher. ...Show more

Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Absolutely Everything by Jordan Ellenberg

$35.00 AUD

Category: Mathematics

How should a democracy choose its representatives? How does Covid-19 spread? How do computers teach themselves chess, and why is chess easier for them than analyzing a sentence? What should your kids study in school if they really want to learn to think? All of these are questions about geometry. Serio usly!Jordan Ellenberg reveals the mathematics behind some of the most important scientific, political and philosophical conundrums we face. The word 'geometry', from the Greek, means 'measuring the world'. If anything, geometry doesn't just measure the world, it explains it. Shape shows us how. ...Show more

The Art of Statistics: Learning from Data by David Spiegelhalter

$22.99 AUD

Category: Mathematics | Series: Pelican Bks.

Statistics has played a leading role in our scientific understanding of the world for centuries, yet we are all familiar with the way statistical claims can be sensationalized, particularly in the media. In the age of big data, as data science becomes established as a discipline, a basic grasp of statis tical literacy is more important than ever. In The Art of Statistics, David Spiegelhalter guides the reader through the essential principles we need in order to derive knowledge from data. Drawing on real-world problems to introduce conceptual issues, he shows us how statistics can help us determine the luckiest passenger on the Titanic, whether serial killer Harold Shipman could have been caught earlier and if screening for ovarian cancer is beneficial. How many trees are there on the planet? Do busier hospitals have higher survival rates? Why do old men have big ears? Spiegelhalter reveals the answers to these and many other questions - questions that can only be addressed using statistical science. ...Show more

The Life-Changing Magic of Numbers by Bobby Seagull

$24.99 AUD

Category: Mathematics

If you found maths lessons at school irrelevant and boring, that's because you didn't have a teacher like Bobby Seagull.***As seen on BBC 2's Monkman & Seagull's Genius Guide to Britain*** Long before his rise to cult fandom on University Challenge, Bobby Seagull was obsessed with numbers. They were the keys that unlocked the randomness of football results, the beauty of art and the best way to get things done. In his absorbing book, Bobby tells the story of his life through numbers and shows the incredible ways maths can make sense of the world around us. From magic shows to rap lyrics, from hobbies to outer space, from fitness to food - Bobby's infectious enthusiasm for numbers will change how you think about almost everything. Told through fascinating stories and insights from Bobby's life, and with head-scratching puzzles in every chapter, you'll never look at numbers the same way again. ...Show more

The Mathematics of the Gods and the Algorithms of Men by Paolo Zellini

$22.99 AUD

Category: Mathematics

Is mathematics a discovery or an invention? Do numbers truly exist? What sort of reality do formulas describe? The complexity of mathematics - its abstract rules and obscure symbols - can seem very distant from the everyday. There are those things that are real and present, it is supposed, and then ther e are mathematical concepts: creations of our mind, mysterious tools for those unengaged with the world. Yet, from its most remote history and deepest purpose, mathematics has served not just as a way to understand and order, but also as a foundation for the reality it describes. In this elegant book, mathematician and philosopher Paolo Zellini offers a brief cultural and intellectual history of mathematics, ranging widely from the paradoxes of ancient Greece to the sacred altars of India, from Mesopotamian calculus to our own contemporary obsession with algorithms. Masterful and illuminating, The Mathematics of the Gods and the Algorithms of Men transforms our understanding of mathematical thinking, showing that it is inextricably linked with the philosophical and the religious as well as the mundane - and, indeed, with our own very human experience of the universe. ...Show more

The Maths Book by Parker Matt

$39.99 AUD

Category: Mathematics | Series: Big Ideas

Take a journey through the fascinating story of fractions, numbers, patterns, and shapes in order to better understand the complex world we live in. Continuing the "Big Ideas" series' trademark combination of authoritative, clear text and bold graphics to chart the development of maths through history, the book explores and explains some of the most complex and fascinating mathematical subjects. Delve into everything from the mathematical ideas and inventions of the ancient world such as the first number systems, magic squares, and the Chinese abacus, through to the developments in mathematics during medieval and Renaissance Europe, to the rise of group theory and cryptography more recently. This diverse and inclusive account of mathematics will have something for everybody- for those interested in the maths behind world economies, secret spies, modern technology and plenty more, taking readers around the world from Babylon to Bletchley Park. Tracing maths through the Scientific Revolution to its 21st-century use in computers, the internet, and AI, The Maths Book uses an innovative visual approach to make the subject accessible to everyone, casual readers and students alike. ...Show more

The Universe Speaks in Numbers - How Modern Maths Reveals Nature's Deepest Secrets by Graham Farmelo

$39.99 AUD

Category: Mathematics

One of the great mysteries of science is that underneath all the complexities of the universe is an underlying harmonious order, whose existence Einstein described as 'a miracle'. No less miraculous, the fundamental laws of the universe can be written in the language of advanced mathematics. Searching f or these laws, physicists have found themselves developing ambitious mathematical ideas. Without observation and experiment as their guide are they now 'lost of maths' and doing 'fairy-tale physics' as their detractors claim? In The Universe Speaks in Numbers Farmelo argues that such criticisms are too pessimistic and shows that today's greatest scientific minds are working in a tradition that dates back to Newton. He takes us on an adventure from the Enlightenment, through to the breakthroughs of Einstein and Dirac, and all the way up to work of contemporary physicists and mathematicians who are shedding light on each other's disciplines to mutual surprise and great excitement. As Farmelo shows, this blossoming relationship between mathematics and physics could redefine reality as we know it and it is responsible for huge advances in our understanding of reality, space and time. Always lively and authoritative, Farmelo navigates the reader through the most thrilling and controversial developments in contemporary thought. This is essential reading for anyone interested understanding how physicists are attempting - in Stephen Hawking's words, to 'know the mind of God.' ...Show more

Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea by Charles Seife

$5.00 AUD

$19.99 (74% off)

Category: Mathematics

The Babylonians invented it, the Greeks banned it, the Hindus worshipped it, and the Christian Church used it to fend off heretics. Today it's a timebomb ticking in the heart of astrophysics. This is a concise tour of a universe of ideas bound up in the simple notion of nothing.