Poincare's Prize: The Hundred-Year Quest to Solve One of Math's Greatest Puzzles


George G. Szpiro - 2007
    Amazingly, the story unveiled in it is true.In the world of math, the Poincaré Conjecture was a holy grail. Decade after decade the theorem that informs how we understand the shape of the universe defied every effort to prove it. Now, after more than a century, an eccentric Russian recluse has found the solution to one of the seven greatest math problems of our time, earning the right to claim the first one-million-dollar Millennium math prize.George Szpiro begins his masterfully told story in 1904 when Frenchman Henri Poincaré formulated a conjecture about a seemingly simple problem. Imagine an ant crawling around on a large surface. How would it know whether the surface is a flat plane, a round sphere, or a bagel- shaped object? The ant would need to lift off into space to observe the object. How could you prove the shape was spherical without actually seeing it? Simply, this is what Poincaré sought to solve.In fact, Poincaré thought he had solved it back at the turn of the twentieth century, but soon realized his mistake. After four more years' work, he gave up. Across the generations from China to Texas, great minds stalked the solution in the wilds of higher dimensions. Among them was Grigory Perelman, a mysterious Russian who seems to have stepped out of a Dostoyevsky novel. Living in near poverty with his mother, he has refused all prizes and academic appointments, and rarely talks to anyone, including fellow mathematicians. It seemed he had lost the race in 2002, when the conjecture was widely but, again, falsely reported as solved. A year later, Perelman dropped three papers onto the Internet that not only proved the Poincaré Conjecture but enlightened the universe of higher dimensions, solving an array of even more mind-bending math with implications that will take an age to unravel. After years of review, his proof has just won him a Fields Medal--the 'Nobel of math'--awarded only once every four years. With no interest in fame, he refused to attend the ceremony, did not accept the medal, and stayed home to watch television.Perelman is a St. Petersburg hero, devoted to an ascetic life of the mind. The story of the enigma in the shape of space that he cracked is part history, part math, and a fascinating tale of the most abstract kind of creativity.

Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics: Teachers' Understandng Fundamental Mathematics in China and the United States


Liping Ma - 1999
    students on international comparisons of mathematics competency. Paradoxically, Chinese teachers receive far less education than U.S. teachers--11 to 12 years of schooling versus 16 to 18 years of schooling.Studies of U.S. teacher knowledge often document insufficient subject matter knowledge in mathematics. But, they give few examples of the knowledge teachers need to support teaching, particularly the kind of teaching demanded by recent reforms in mathematics education.This book describes the nature and development of the "profound understanding of fundamental mathematics" that elementary teachers need to become accomplished mathematics teachers, and suggests why such teaching knowledge is much more common in China than the United States, despite the fact that Chinese teachers have less formal education than their U.S. counterparts.The studies described in this book suggest that Chinese teachers begin their teaching careers with a better understanding of elementary mathematics than that of most U.S. elementary teachers. Their understanding of the mathematics they teach and--equally important--of the ways that elementary mathematics can be presented to students, continues to grow throughout their professional lives.Teaching conditions in the United States, unlike those in China, militate against the development of elementary teachers' mathematical knowledge and its organization for teaching. The concluding chapter of the book suggests changes in teacher preparation, teacher support, and mathematics education research that might allow teachers in the United States to attain profound understanding of fundamental mathematics.

Electronics Fundamentals: Circuits, Devices and Applications (Floyd Electronics Fundamentals Series)


Thomas L. Floyd - 1983
    Written in a clear and accessible narrative, the 7th Edition focuses on fundamental principles and their applications to solving real circuit analysis problems, and devotes six chapters to examining electronic devices. With an eye-catching visual program and practical exercises, this book provides readers with the problem-solving experience they need in a style that makes complex material thoroughly understandable. For professionals with a career in electronics, engineering, technical sales, field service, industrial manufacturing, service shop repair, and/or technical writing.

Steampunk Gear, Gadgets, and Gizmos: A Maker's Guide to Creating Modern Artifacts


Thomas Willeford - 2011
    Filled with do-it-yourself projects, Steampunk Gear, Gadgets, and Gizmos: A Maker's Guide to Creating Modern Artifacts shows you how to build exquisite, ingenious contraptions on a budget.Learn from Lord Featherstone as he distills his wealth of hard-learned skills, describes how to use the readily available tools of the modern mad scientist, and expounds on the art and philosophy of scavenging unique components and raw materials. The perfect companion for the hobbyist and advanced machinist alike, this inventive volume will guide you through the creation of your very own infernal devices.Get steamed with these provocative projects: Aetheric ray deflector solid brass gogglesCalibrated indicator gaugesFerromagnetic self-scribing automated encyclopedia (or, the Steampunk book drive)High voltage electro-static cannon (or, the lamp gun)Tesla-pod chrono-static insulating field generator (or, the mobile device enclosure)Altitude mask with integrated respiratory augmentationArmoured pith helmetMark I superior replacement arm with integrated Gatling gun attachmentVisit the companion website, www.mhprofessional.com/steampunk, for videos, images, and more bonus content!Make Great Stuff!TAB, an imprint of McGraw-Hill Professional, is a leading publisher of DIY technology books for makers, hackers, and electronics hobbyists.

How to Become a Human Calculator?: With the Magic of Vedic Maths


Aditi Singhal - 2011
    More than 500 solved Examples to make concepter very clear. Exhautive Exercises for Each topic.

The Joy of Game Theory: An Introduction to Strategic Thinking


Presh Talwalkar - 2013
    Articles from Game Theory Tuesdays have been referenced in The Freakonomics Blog, Yahoo Finance, and CNN.com. The second edition includes many streamlined explanations and incorporates suggestions from readers of the first edition. Game theory is the study of interactive decision making--that is, in situations where each person's action affects the outcome for the whole group. Game theory is a beautiful subject and this book will teach you how to understand the theory and practically implement solutions through a series of stories and the aid of over 30 illustrations. This book has two primary objectives. (1) To help you recognize strategic games, like the Prisoner's Dilemma, Bertrand Duopoly, Hotelling's Game, the Game of Chicken, and Mutually Assured Destruction. (2) To show you how to make better decisions and change the game, a powerful concept that can transform no-win situations into mutually beneficial outcomes. You'll learn how to negotiate better by making your threats credible, sometimes limiting options or burning bridges, and thinking about new ways to create better outcomes. As these goals indicate, game theory is about more than board games and gambling. It all seems so simple, and yet that definition belies the complexity of game theory. While it may only take seconds to get a sense of game theory, it takes a lifetime to appreciate and master it. This book will get you started.

The Art of Electronics


Paul Horowitz - 1980
    Widely accepted as the authoritative text and reference on electronic circuit design, both analog and digital, this book revolutionized the teaching of electronics by emphasizing the methods actually used by circuit designers -- a combination of some basic laws, rules of thumb, and a large bag of tricks. The result is a largely nonmathematical treatment that encourages circuit intuition, brainstorming, and simplified calculations of circuit values and performance. The new Art of Electronics retains the feeling of informality and easy access that helped make the first edition so successful and popular. It is an ideal first textbook on electronics for scientists and engineers and an indispensable reference for anyone, professional or amateur, who works with electronic circuits.

Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera


Bryan Peterson - 1990
    Peterson stresses the importance of metering the subject for a starting exposure, and then explains how to use various exposure meters and different kinds of lighting. The book contains lessons on each element of the exposure-aperature, shutter speed, iso-and how it relates to the other two in terms of depth of field, freezing and blurring action, and shooting in low light or at night. A section on special techniques explores such options as deliberate under- and overexposures, how to produce double exposures, bracketing, shooting the moon, and the use of filters. Understanding Exposure demonstrates that there are always creative choices about how to expose a picture-and that the decision is up to the photographer, not the camera.

Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics


John Derbyshire - 2003
    Alternating passages of extraordinarily lucid mathematical exposition with chapters of elegantly composed biography and history, Prime Obsession is a fascinating and fluent account of an epic mathematical mystery that continues to challenge and excite the world.

The Polymer Clay Techniques Book


Sue Heaser - 1999
    It then moves on to marbling effects, simulating textiles, making frames, building miniature pots, and creating faux stones.Inspirational examples of work from some of the best polymer clay artists in the world will fire your imagination and provide ideas for developing your own designs.

Hacker's Delight


Henry S. Warren Jr. - 2002
    Aiming to tell the dark secrets of computer arithmetic, this title is suitable for library developers, compiler writers, and lovers of elegant hacks.

MAKE: Electronics: Learning Through Discovery


Charles Platt - 2008
    I also love the sense of humor. It's very good at disarming the fear. And it's gorgeous. I'll be recommending this book highly." --Tom Igoe, author of Physical Computing and Making Things TalkWant to learn the fundamentals of electronics in a fun, hands-on way? With Make: Electronics, you'll start working on real projects as soon as you crack open the book. Explore all of the key components and essential principles through a series of fascinating experiments. You'll build the circuits first, then learn the theory behind them!Build working devices, from simple to complex You'll start with the basics and then move on to more complicated projects. Go from switching circuits to integrated circuits, and from simple alarms to programmable microcontrollers. Step-by-step instructions and more than 500 full-color photographs and illustrations will help you use -- and understand -- electronics concepts and techniques.Discover by breaking things: experiment with components and learn from failureSet up a tricked-out project space: make a work area at home, equipped with the tools and parts you'll needLearn about key electronic components and their functions within a circuitCreate an intrusion alarm, holiday lights, wearable electronic jewelry, audio processors, a reflex tester, and a combination lockBuild an autonomous robot cart that can sense its environment and avoid obstaclesGet clear, easy-to-understand explanations of what you're doing and why

How to read and do proofs


Daniel Solow - 1982
    Shows how any proof can be understood as a sequence of techniques. Covers the full range of techniques used in proofs, such as the contrapositive, induction, and proof by contradiction. Explains how to identify which techniques are used and how they are applied in the specific problem. Illustrates how to read written proofs with many step-by-step examples. Includes new, expanded appendices related to discrete mathematics, linear algebra, modern algebra and real analysis.

Euclid's Elements


Euclid
    Heath's translation of the thirteen books of Euclid's Elements. In keeping with Green Lion's design commitment, diagrams have been placed on every spread for convenient reference while working through the proofs; running heads on every page indicate both Euclid's book number and proposition numbers for that page; and adequate space for notes is allowed between propositions and around diagrams. The all-new index has built into it a glossary of Euclid's Greek terms.Heath's translation has stood the test of time, and, as one done by a renowned scholar of ancient mathematics, it can be relied upon not to have inadvertantly introduced modern concepts or nomenclature. We have excised the voluminous historical and scholarly commentary that swells the Dover edition to three volumes and impedes classroom use of the original text. The single volume is not only more convenient, but less expensive as well.

Hands-On Machine Learning with Scikit-Learn and TensorFlow


Aurélien Géron - 2017
    Now that machine learning is thriving, even programmers who know close to nothing about this technology can use simple, efficient tools to implement programs capable of learning from data. This practical book shows you how.By using concrete examples, minimal theory, and two production-ready Python frameworks—Scikit-Learn and TensorFlow—author Aurélien Géron helps you gain an intuitive understanding of the concepts and tools for building intelligent systems. You’ll learn how to use a range of techniques, starting with simple Linear Regression and progressing to Deep Neural Networks. If you have some programming experience and you’re ready to code a machine learning project, this guide is for you.This hands-on book shows you how to use:Scikit-Learn, an accessible framework that implements many algorithms efficiently and serves as a great machine learning entry pointTensorFlow, a more complex library for distributed numerical computation, ideal for training and running very large neural networksPractical code examples that you can apply without learning excessive machine learning theory or algorithm details