Just read/glanced through another math-for-the-masses book : The secret life of numbers by George G. Szpiro. The subtitle made me buy the book : 50 easy pieces on how mathematicians work and think Could be fun, I thought, certainly after reading the Amazon-blurb :

Most of us picture mathematicians laboring before a chalkboard, scribbling numbers and obscure symbols as they mutter unintelligibly. This lighthearted (but realistic) sneak-peak into the everyday world of mathematicians turns that stereotype on its head. Most people have little idea what mathematicians do or how they think. It’s often difficult to see how their seemingly arcane and esoteric work applies to our own everyday lives. But mathematics also holds a special allure for many people. We are drawn to its inherent beauty and fascinated by its complexity - but often intimidated by its presumed difficulty. \”The Secret Life of Numbers\” opens our eyes to the joys of mathematics, introducing us to the charming, often whimsical side, of the discipline.

Please correct me when I’m wrong, but I found just one out of 50 pieces which remotely fulfills this promise : ‘Cozy Zurich’¹. Still, there are some other pieces worth reading, 1. ‘A puzzle by any other name’² 2. ‘Twins, cousins and sexy primes’ ³ 3. ‘Proving the proof’⁴ 4. ‘Has Poincare’s conjecture finally been solved’⁵ 5. ‘Late tribute to a tragic hero’⁶ 6. ‘God’s gift to science?’⁷ to single out a few, embedded in a soup made out of the usual suspects (knots, chaos, RSA etc.). But, all in all, I fear the book doesn’t fulfill its promises and once again it demonstrates how little ‘math-substance’ one is able to put in a book for a general audience. But let us end with a quote from the preface that I really like :

Whenever a socialite shows off his flair at a coctail party by reciting a stanza from an obscure poem, he is considered well-read and full of wit. Not much ado can be made with the recitation of a mathematical formula, however. At most, one may expect a few pitying glances and the title ‘party’s most nerdy guest’. To the concurring nods of the cocktail crowd, most bystanders will admit that they are no good at math, never have been, and never will be.
Actually, this is quite astonishing. Imagine your lawyer telling you that he is no good at spelling, your dentist proudly proclaiming that she speaks n foreign language, and your financial advisor admitting with glee that he always mixes up Voltaire with Moliere. With ample reason one would consider such people as ignorant. Not so with mathematics. Shortcomings in this intellectual discipline are met with understanding by everyone.

• I Love Social Bookmarking
  
  • Subscribe
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Ma.gnolia
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati

1. on the awesome technical support a lecturer in Zurich is rumoured to receive [↩]
2. On the Collatz problem [↩]
3. How reasearch into the twin primes problem led to the discovery of a Pentium-bug [↩]
4. On Kepler’s problem [↩]
5. Of course it has been [↩]
6. On Abel’s life and prize [↩]
7. Stephen Wolfram bashing [↩]

arty, puzzle

No comments
Posted in general
Written on Thu, 11 January 2007 at 7:34 pm
Tags: arty, puzzle
If you liked this post, then consider subscribing to our full RSS feed.