By Ian Stewart
Publish 12 months note: First released in 1995
------------------------
"It seems to us that the universe is dependent in a deeply mathematical means. Falling our bodies fall with predictable accelerations. Eclipses might be appropriately forecast centuries prematurely. Nuclear strength vegetation generate electrical energy in accordance with famous formulation. yet these examples are the end of the iceberg. In Nature's Numbers, Ian Stewart provides many extra, every one captivating in its personal way.. Stewart admirably captures compelling and obtainable mathematical principles besides the excitement of considering them. He writes with readability and precision. those that take pleasure in this type of factor will love this book."—Los Angeles Times
Read Online or Download Nature's Numbers: The Unreal Reality Of Mathematics PDF
Best nature books
Mycophilia: Revelations from the Weird World of Mushrooms
An extremely flexible cooking aspect containing an abundance of supplements, minerals, and possibly
cancer-fighting homes, mushrooms are one of the costliest and sought-after meals on the
planet. but by way of fungi, culinary makes use of are just the end of the iceberg. all through historical past fungus has been prized for its various properties—medicinal, ecological, even recreational—and has
spawned its personal quirky culture devoted to exploring the unusual biology and celebrating the original position it performs on the earth. In Mycophilia, comprehensive foodstuff author and cookbook writer Eugenia Bone examines the position of fungi as unique delicacy, healing, poison, and hallucinogen, and finally discovers higher realizing of fungi is essential to dealing with many demanding situations of the twenty first century.
Engrossing, impressive, and jam-packed with updated technology and cultural exploration, Mycophilia is a component narrative and half primer for foodies, technological know-how buffs, environmental advocates, and someone drawn to studying much approximately one of many least understood and such a lot curious organisms in nature.
In cooperation with the Mauritian executive, Gerald Durrell and his staff visited the island to assist rescue a few of the quickly dwindling fauna from virtually yes extinction. This publication recounts their makes an attempt.
The Guide to Colorado Reptiles and Amphibians
Nature author Mary Taylor Young's newest box consultant might help you find and study extra approximately Colorado's local reptiles and amphibians. protecting seventy-two species of turtles, toads, salamanders, snakes, and lizards, The advisor to Colorado Reptiles and Amphibians explores herptiles via exact descriptions and informative sidebars.
Evolving Nature of the English Language: Studies in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics
This quantity provides a set of interdisciplinary papers bearing on the main thought-provoking difficulties within the parts of either theoretical and utilized linguistics. The members specialize in modern advancements in morphological, semantic and pragmatic theorizing. The contributions also are dedicated to a variety of points of the technique of educating English in addition to a few intricacies of translation.
- Heatstroke: Nature in an Age of Global Warming
- The Promethean Illusion: The Western Belief in Human Mastery of Nature
- Melting Away: A Ten-Year Journey through Our Endangered Polar Regions
- Nature Reviews (Augusyt 2001)
Additional info for Nature's Numbers: The Unreal Reality Of Mathematics
Sample text
In this chapter, I will 31 323232 NATURE'S NUMBERS try to show you some of the others and explain why they, too, are important. Inevitably my starting point has to be numbers. A large part of the early prehistory of mathematics can be summed up as the discovery, by various civilizations, of a wider and wider range of things that deserved to be called numbers. The simplest are the numbers we use for counting. In fact, counting began long before there were symbols like 1, 2, 3, because it is possible to count without using numbers at all—say, by counting on your fingers.
It can grow most easily in the direction along which the open rim of the shell points, because the shell gets in its way if it tries to grow in any other direction. But, having grown a bit, it needs to extend its shell as well, for self-protection. So, of course, the shell grows an extra ring of material around its rim. As this process continues, the animal is getting bigger, so the size of the rim grows. The simplest result is a conical shell, such as you find on a limpet. But if the whole system starts with a W H A T M A T H E M A T I C S IS FOR bit of a twist, as is quite likely, then the growing edge of the shell rotates slowly as well as expanding, and it rotates in an off-centered manner.
Our world rests on mathematical foundations, and mathematics is unavoidably embedded in our global culture. The only reason we don't always realize just how strongly our lives are affected by mathematics is that, for sensible reasons, it is kept as far as possible behind the scenes. When you go to the travel agent and book a vacation, you don't need to understand the intricate mathematical and physical theories that make it possible to design computers and telephone lines, the optimization routines that schedule as many flights as possible around any particular airport, or the signal-processing methods used to provide accurate radar images for the pilots.