The Joy of X
 |
Description
Book Introduction
Realize and savor how beautiful and enjoyable mathematics is!
Mathematician Genius Strogatz Reawakens Our Innate Mathematical Instinct
An unprecedented math column that New York Times readers cheered for!
Counting numbers like magic, equations that trace unknowns more excitingly than detective novels, geometry that stirs logic and intuition, calculus that draws elegant curves… … .
Everyone has had the experience of learning numbers for the first time, but few remember the thrill of it.
Here is a special guide that brings out the charm of mathematics hidden deep in our memories.
This column, which was acclaimed by readers of all ages, was compiled into “The Joy of X.”
This single book guides readers step by step through the enjoyable world of mathematics, from kindergarten math to graduate school algebra.
This book will open your eyes to the fascinating world of mathematics that you never knew existed.
Mathematician Genius Strogatz Reawakens Our Innate Mathematical Instinct
An unprecedented math column that New York Times readers cheered for!
Counting numbers like magic, equations that trace unknowns more excitingly than detective novels, geometry that stirs logic and intuition, calculus that draws elegant curves… … .
Everyone has had the experience of learning numbers for the first time, but few remember the thrill of it.
Here is a special guide that brings out the charm of mathematics hidden deep in our memories.
This column, which was acclaimed by readers of all ages, was compiled into “The Joy of X.”
This single book guides readers step by step through the enjoyable world of mathematics, from kindergarten math to graduate school algebra.
This book will open your eyes to the fascinating world of mathematics that you never knew existed.
- You can preview some of the book's contents.
Preview
index
Recommendation_ Stephen Strogatz's World of Mathematics_ Kim Min-hyung (Professor of Mathematics, Oxford University)
Preface_ From Kindergarten Math to the Changes in Mathematical Knowledge
Part 1: The moment you know this, your life will change: Su
01 From Fish to Infinity | The Difference Between "Fish, Fish, Fish, Fish, Fish, Fish!" and "Fish 6!"
02 Pebble Group | If numbers were pebbles
03 The Enemy of My Enemy | The Inconvenient Truth About Negative and Positive Numbers
04 Commutative Law | The Secret to Life Hidden in Multiplication
05 Complaints about Division | Overcoming the First Math Wall
06 Place Value Determines Value | The Revolution Brought About by Zero and Place Value
Part II: Cause and Effect, Administration and Reaction, How the World Is Made: Relationships
07 The Joy of X | Encountering the Language of Mathematics
08 Finding the Roots | The Journey to Finding Complex Numbers
09 The Secret of the Overflowing Bathtub | Overcoming the Trap of the Sentence Problem
The Root Formula | Understanding the Root Formula with Squares
11 Functions, a Mathematician's Essential Tool | A Math Extension Kit That Converts Anything
Part 3: New discoveries that delight the eyes: Form
The Dance of the Squares | Why the Pythagorean Theorem is So Beautiful
13 Proofs from Geometry | The Truth Proof Method Followed by Newton and Spinoza
14 Conic Sections | The Story of Circles, Ellipses, and Parabolas
15 Secrets of Sine Waves | Sine Waves in Everything
16 Going to the Limit | Pi in Infinity Imagined by Archimedes
Part 4: The Amazing Power of Mathematics: Change
17 Calculus for Dealing with Change | Taking the Easiest Path
18 Slicing and Combining Methods | The Power of Integration to Help Make Reasonable Predictions
All About 19 e | Ask the Irrational Number e for Relationship Advice
20 Differential Equations of Love | The Chaotic Dynamics of Push-and-Pull Lovers
21 The Essence of Light | Vector Calculus for Smart Movement
Part 5: Inspiring Your Dizzying Life: Data
22 What's Normal Now | The Political Attributes of Statistics
23 Conditional Probability | The Secret to Avoiding the Traps of Intuition and Common Sense
24 Secrets of Internet Search | Google's Popularity Vote
Part 6: Known and Unknown: Boundaries
25 The Loneliest Numbers | The Mysterious Story of Prime Numbers
26 Mattress Math | The Most Mathematical Way to Flip a Mattress
27 Möbius Strip | A Glimpse into Topology, Stretched Like Rubber
28 Spherical Geometry and Differential Geometry | Geometry for Finding the Shortest Distance on Earth
29 Hermeneutics | The Cure When Mathematics Gets Sick
30 Hilbert Hotel | Infinite guests and infinite hotel rooms
Preface_ From Kindergarten Math to the Changes in Mathematical Knowledge
Part 1: The moment you know this, your life will change: Su
01 From Fish to Infinity | The Difference Between "Fish, Fish, Fish, Fish, Fish, Fish!" and "Fish 6!"
02 Pebble Group | If numbers were pebbles
03 The Enemy of My Enemy | The Inconvenient Truth About Negative and Positive Numbers
04 Commutative Law | The Secret to Life Hidden in Multiplication
05 Complaints about Division | Overcoming the First Math Wall
06 Place Value Determines Value | The Revolution Brought About by Zero and Place Value
Part II: Cause and Effect, Administration and Reaction, How the World Is Made: Relationships
07 The Joy of X | Encountering the Language of Mathematics
08 Finding the Roots | The Journey to Finding Complex Numbers
09 The Secret of the Overflowing Bathtub | Overcoming the Trap of the Sentence Problem
The Root Formula | Understanding the Root Formula with Squares
11 Functions, a Mathematician's Essential Tool | A Math Extension Kit That Converts Anything
Part 3: New discoveries that delight the eyes: Form
The Dance of the Squares | Why the Pythagorean Theorem is So Beautiful
13 Proofs from Geometry | The Truth Proof Method Followed by Newton and Spinoza
14 Conic Sections | The Story of Circles, Ellipses, and Parabolas
15 Secrets of Sine Waves | Sine Waves in Everything
16 Going to the Limit | Pi in Infinity Imagined by Archimedes
Part 4: The Amazing Power of Mathematics: Change
17 Calculus for Dealing with Change | Taking the Easiest Path
18 Slicing and Combining Methods | The Power of Integration to Help Make Reasonable Predictions
All About 19 e | Ask the Irrational Number e for Relationship Advice
20 Differential Equations of Love | The Chaotic Dynamics of Push-and-Pull Lovers
21 The Essence of Light | Vector Calculus for Smart Movement
Part 5: Inspiring Your Dizzying Life: Data
22 What's Normal Now | The Political Attributes of Statistics
23 Conditional Probability | The Secret to Avoiding the Traps of Intuition and Common Sense
24 Secrets of Internet Search | Google's Popularity Vote
Part 6: Known and Unknown: Boundaries
25 The Loneliest Numbers | The Mysterious Story of Prime Numbers
26 Mattress Math | The Most Mathematical Way to Flip a Mattress
27 Möbius Strip | A Glimpse into Topology, Stretched Like Rubber
28 Spherical Geometry and Differential Geometry | Geometry for Finding the Shortest Distance on Earth
29 Hermeneutics | The Cure When Mathematics Gets Sick
30 Hilbert Hotel | Infinite guests and infinite hotel rooms
Into the book
Humphrey listens carefully to the order and shouts it out to the kitchen.
“Fish, fish, fish, fish, fish, fish!” Seeing that, Ernie realizes how convenient the number 6 is.
Through this story, children learn how convenient numbers are.
It is much more convenient to use the number 6 rather than continuously shouting out 'fish' as many times as there are penguins.
--- pp.
22~23
Another subtle point is that numbers (and, for that matter, all other mathematical concepts) have a life of their own.
We cannot control numbers at will.
Numbers exist in our minds, but once we have decided what a number means, we cannot interfere with its behavior.
Numbers follow their own laws, have their own properties and individuality, and have their own way of interacting with each other, and we can only observe and try to understand them, but we have no influence over them.
In this respect, numbers are strangely reminiscent of the substances of this world, atoms and stars, which also follow laws beyond our control.
However, these exist outside our minds.
--- p.
24
Once you start thinking about it, multiplication is actually quite subtle.
It starts with the terminology.
Is '7 times 3' '7 added three times' or '3 added seven times'? --- p.
43
Best of all, using a place-value number system allows even ordinary people to learn to count.
You just need to know a few facts - the multiplication tables and the corresponding rules for addition.
If you know these, you don't need to know the rest.
--- p.
63
There are many situations where we need to find the value of an unknown variable.
How much radiation would be needed to shrink a thyroid tumor? How much would be the monthly payment for a $200,000 loan with a 5% fixed interest rate over 30 years? How fast would a rocket have to travel to escape Earth's gravity? --- p.
97
This is also the reason why it is difficult to fold paper more than seven or eight times.
With each fold, the thickness of the paper bundle increases exponentially, approximately doubling.
On the other hand, the length of the paper bundle is halved each time, so it 'decreases' exponentially quickly.
--- pp.110~111
Our brains perform similar magic when we listen to music.
The frequencies of each note that makes up the scale - do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do - sound like equal increments to our ears.
But objectively, the frequency increases in 'multiple units'.
So we perceive the sound as a logarithmic value.
--- p.
112
My gut feeling (and to be honest, I personally really like geometry) is that people like geometry because it 'combines' logic and intuition.
We get great satisfaction when we use both our left and right brains simultaneously.
--- p.
117
In addition to laying the foundations of calculus, Archimedes also demonstrated the power of approximation and iteration.
...
This has enabled computers to be used to solve problems in every aspect of modern life, from biotechnology to Wall Street and the Internet.
The basic strategy used in all these cases is to find a series of approximations that converge to the correct answer, which exists as an extremum.
No one knows where this method will lead us.
--- pp.
166~165
There is one good strategy, even if it is not the best strategy.
It's like dividing your love life in half.
With the first half of your relationship, you just enjoy dating, but when dating the second half, you approach it with a serious attitude.
And if you meet someone better than the people you've met so far, you can choose that person without hesitation.
Using this strategy, you have at least a 25% chance of picking the best opponent.
The reason is as follows:
The odds of meeting the best partner in your second love life are 50/50, and the odds of meeting the second best partner in your first love life are also 50/50.
If both of these events actually happen (which is a 25% chance), you will find true love.
--- pp.
193~194
Imagine a diagram full of arrows showing someone learning to dance how and in what order to move their right and left feet.
These arrows are vectors.
The arrows contain two types of information.
One is direction (which way to move your feet), and the other is size (how far to move them).
Every vector contains this same double piece of information.
--- p.
204
At the physical examination, the military psychiatrist asked Feynman to hold out both hands for examination.
Feynman held out one hand, palm up, and the other, palm down.
The psychiatrist said, “No, not like that, on the contrary.”
Then Feynman turned both hands over 'simultaneously'.
One hand was still palm up, the other palm down.
Feynman wasn't trying to play mind games.
I just used a little humor from the military theory.
--- p.
261
After one lap, the line drawn by the crayon was on the 'opposite side' of the starting point.
This is the first surprising fact: on a Möbius strip, you have to go 'two turns' to return to the starting point.
But suddenly, one boy fell into a state of panic.
The moment he realized that the crayon had not returned to its starting point, the child knew he had done something wrong.
Telling him that it was normal for that to happen, that he did it right, and that he just needed to go around one more time, didn't help.
It's already too late.
The child sat down on the floor and began to cry, and there was no way to comfort him.
“Fish, fish, fish, fish, fish, fish!” Seeing that, Ernie realizes how convenient the number 6 is.
Through this story, children learn how convenient numbers are.
It is much more convenient to use the number 6 rather than continuously shouting out 'fish' as many times as there are penguins.
--- pp.
22~23
Another subtle point is that numbers (and, for that matter, all other mathematical concepts) have a life of their own.
We cannot control numbers at will.
Numbers exist in our minds, but once we have decided what a number means, we cannot interfere with its behavior.
Numbers follow their own laws, have their own properties and individuality, and have their own way of interacting with each other, and we can only observe and try to understand them, but we have no influence over them.
In this respect, numbers are strangely reminiscent of the substances of this world, atoms and stars, which also follow laws beyond our control.
However, these exist outside our minds.
--- p.
24
Once you start thinking about it, multiplication is actually quite subtle.
It starts with the terminology.
Is '7 times 3' '7 added three times' or '3 added seven times'? --- p.
43
Best of all, using a place-value number system allows even ordinary people to learn to count.
You just need to know a few facts - the multiplication tables and the corresponding rules for addition.
If you know these, you don't need to know the rest.
--- p.
63
There are many situations where we need to find the value of an unknown variable.
How much radiation would be needed to shrink a thyroid tumor? How much would be the monthly payment for a $200,000 loan with a 5% fixed interest rate over 30 years? How fast would a rocket have to travel to escape Earth's gravity? --- p.
97
This is also the reason why it is difficult to fold paper more than seven or eight times.
With each fold, the thickness of the paper bundle increases exponentially, approximately doubling.
On the other hand, the length of the paper bundle is halved each time, so it 'decreases' exponentially quickly.
--- pp.110~111
Our brains perform similar magic when we listen to music.
The frequencies of each note that makes up the scale - do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do - sound like equal increments to our ears.
But objectively, the frequency increases in 'multiple units'.
So we perceive the sound as a logarithmic value.
--- p.
112
My gut feeling (and to be honest, I personally really like geometry) is that people like geometry because it 'combines' logic and intuition.
We get great satisfaction when we use both our left and right brains simultaneously.
--- p.
117
In addition to laying the foundations of calculus, Archimedes also demonstrated the power of approximation and iteration.
...
This has enabled computers to be used to solve problems in every aspect of modern life, from biotechnology to Wall Street and the Internet.
The basic strategy used in all these cases is to find a series of approximations that converge to the correct answer, which exists as an extremum.
No one knows where this method will lead us.
--- pp.
166~165
There is one good strategy, even if it is not the best strategy.
It's like dividing your love life in half.
With the first half of your relationship, you just enjoy dating, but when dating the second half, you approach it with a serious attitude.
And if you meet someone better than the people you've met so far, you can choose that person without hesitation.
Using this strategy, you have at least a 25% chance of picking the best opponent.
The reason is as follows:
The odds of meeting the best partner in your second love life are 50/50, and the odds of meeting the second best partner in your first love life are also 50/50.
If both of these events actually happen (which is a 25% chance), you will find true love.
--- pp.
193~194
Imagine a diagram full of arrows showing someone learning to dance how and in what order to move their right and left feet.
These arrows are vectors.
The arrows contain two types of information.
One is direction (which way to move your feet), and the other is size (how far to move them).
Every vector contains this same double piece of information.
--- p.
204
At the physical examination, the military psychiatrist asked Feynman to hold out both hands for examination.
Feynman held out one hand, palm up, and the other, palm down.
The psychiatrist said, “No, not like that, on the contrary.”
Then Feynman turned both hands over 'simultaneously'.
One hand was still palm up, the other palm down.
Feynman wasn't trying to play mind games.
I just used a little humor from the military theory.
--- p.
261
After one lap, the line drawn by the crayon was on the 'opposite side' of the starting point.
This is the first surprising fact: on a Möbius strip, you have to go 'two turns' to return to the starting point.
But suddenly, one boy fell into a state of panic.
The moment he realized that the crayon had not returned to its starting point, the child knew he had done something wrong.
Telling him that it was normal for that to happen, that he did it right, and that he just needed to go around one more time, didn't help.
It's already too late.
The child sat down on the floor and began to cry, and there was no way to comfort him.
--- p.
267
267
Publisher's Review
Amazon's Best Science Books of 2012
Winner of the 2014 Mathematical Society of America Euler Book Award
Recommended by Dr. Minhyung Kim, Department of Mathematics, University of Oxford
Praise from world-renowned scholars including Steven Pinker and Daniel Gilbert
“I gave up on math when I was in school because it was so difficult, but looking back, I felt like I was missing something.”
When we think of math, we often think of difficult tests and complex formulas, but the way people approach math these days is changing dramatically.
Anyone can handle at least one 'formula' in the office program Excel.
Famous CEOs take turns talking about 'big data' or 'statistics' at least once.
Mathematics is becoming more closely integrated into our lives, and the number of cultural industries that make mathematics more interesting is also increasing.
In this day and age, there are surprisingly many people who feel a thirst for mathematics as they go through life.
This thirst seems to stem from the fact that I have not yet properly learned how to become familiar with mathematics, a tool for logically interpreting life and a place for pure intellectual thought.
It is for these very people that the greatest scholar of our time has opened up the story of mathematics in the New York Times.
He was none other than Stephen Strogatz, who joked to his friend who was particularly afraid of math, “I think I should start from 1+1=2 and teach it step by step from the beginning.”
He is currently a professor of applied mathematics at Cornell University and is known as the Carl Sagan of the mathematics world. He has taken on the extraordinary task of introducing mathematics from kindergarten to graduate school to the general public.
A mathematics column was serialized in the online New York Times for 15 weeks under the title "Elementary Theory of Mathematics."
Readers of all ages were enthusiastic about this unique column, saying, "It's so damn funny," and they flooded me with questions and comments via email and comments.
And the book published based on this is “The Joy of X.”
This book was selected as one of Amazon's best science books in 2012, and in 2014, it won the Euler Book Award, given by the Mathematical Society of America for a book that has made a significant contribution to the popularization of mathematics.
Not only did it receive rave reviews from scholars like Steven Pinker and Daniel Gilbert, but the Korean edition also received a loving recommendation from Dr. Kim Min-hyung of Oxford University.
Of Strogatz's books, The Pleasure of X is the most popular and the most entertaining.
This book will be of interest to students who are currently studying, but even mathematicians who already know the content will praise it, saying, "It's amazing that mathematics can be taught like this."
Scholars from other fields are also eager to praise him. Dr. Kim Min-hyung of Oxford University, who was a colleague and inspiration to Strogatz while teaching at MIT, praised him in his foreword to the Korean edition of "The Joy of X," calling him "a special researcher who helped us realize the value of applied mathematics."
What is the difference between “Fish, fish, fish, fish, fish, fish!” and “Fish 6!”?
Addition of Pebbles, Dance of Squares, Equations in Love
Returning to the most enjoyable math awakens your "math instinct."
Math is still difficult.
I'm scared.
If children come to me with a math problem, I'm quick to ignore them.
Come to think of it, I wonder if there was a time when I also found math fun.
But I can confidently say that everyone has had times like that.
《The Joy of X》reawakens the joy of mathematics that we have clearly felt but forgotten.
“Dad, there’s always a number between my age and my sister’s age.
I'm six now, my sister is eight, so there are seven years between us.
But later on, when we get older and I turn twenty, you will be twenty-two, and there will be some things in between!”
For children, mathematics comes as a surprise.
Strogatz takes us back to the days when we first learned mathematics by giving fresh interpretations to basic mathematical concepts that we are familiar with.
And the journey boldly draws upon cultures we know well, such as the television program "Sesame Street," the Japanese novel "The Equation the Doctor Loved," and Shakespeare's classic "Romeo and Juliet."
There is a certain magical power in the mathematics we begin to learn early in life.
“Fish, fish, fish, fish, fish, fish!” shouts Humphrey from Sesame Street as he receives orders for fish dishes from six guests.
But it's much easier to say "Fish 6!"
The moment we say the number 6, we enter a profound world of new concepts.
What kind of revolution have the thoughtless use of Arabic numerals and zero brought about in the world? Did you know that to logically prove anything, you must refer to geometry? Both Newton's "Principia" and Spinoza's "Ethics" imitate geometric proofs.
What if the word problems that have always trapped us are actually the ultimate tools for reshaping our outdated thinking? Did you know that Archimedes simply cut and cut a circle to calculate pi? If you could express the love between Romeo and Juliet using differential equations, what would the resulting equation be? Once you've experienced the loneliness and mystery inherent in prime numbers divisible only by themselves and 1, you'll be immersed in the allure of mathematics, a discipline that satisfies both reason and emotion.
“What use is mathematics in life?”
If only I had met such a kind and fun teacher sooner…
Unraveling the hidden mathematics in our lives
There is one thing that people who hate math usually say.
“What use are these formulas in life?” This is a common question from people who are not interested in math classes where students are forced to memorize formulas or solve problems without explaining how math relates to daily life.
As Strogatz moves on to explaining higher mathematics, he begins to connect mathematics and our lives very closely.
If, when first learning calculus, we had only heard a simple explanation like, "Differential calculus tells us how fast something changes, and integral calculus tells us how much something accumulates," how much more accessible would calculus have been? Had we known that quadratic equations arose from the process of determining how much of a parent's inheritance to distribute to their children, we might have found the process of figuring out the unknown x to be a necessary and enjoyable one.
By finding a place for mathematics that was once so elusive, Strogatz eliminates the aversion to difficult higher mathematics and brings out the mathematics embedded in the everyday actions and technologies we use in our daily lives.
After showing that the field of mathematics is limitless, such as that even the way to dance contains mathematical information called vectors, that topology can be used to spread more cream cheese on a bagel, and that the unique search service Google uses a 'popularity vote' method to find sites, the book guides readers into the 'infinite' realm that has not yet been touched by human hands.
Kim Min-hyung (mathematician): If you were to name a master of applied mathematics, the name that naturally comes to mind would be Strogatz. "The Joy of X" is a book full of stories that can be learned by both adults who have long since left school and students who are still studying.
- (Professor of Mathematics, Oxford University, author of Dad's Math Journey and Prime Number Fantasy)
Steven Pinker (psychologist): A fascinating journey into the beauty and joy of mathematics, in the tradition of Lewis Carroll, George Gamow, and Martin Gardner.
The Joy of X will entertain you, surprise you, and make you smarter.
(Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, author of How the Mind Works and The Language Instinct)
Daniel Gilbert (Psychologist): Every time you turn the page, a fantastic mathematical story unfolds.
Strogatz discovered a magical function that turns 'mathematics' into 'fun'.
“It goes beyond simply and clearly explaining everything about mathematics that used to baffle you, and makes mathematics wonderful, enjoyable, and surprising.”
(Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, author of Stumbling on Happiness)
Joshua Foer (Journalist): This engaging book will remind you just how beautiful and fascinating mathematics can be.
Strogatz is the math teacher we all wish we had.
(Author of Moonwalking with Einstein)
Winner of the 2014 Mathematical Society of America Euler Book Award
Recommended by Dr. Minhyung Kim, Department of Mathematics, University of Oxford
Praise from world-renowned scholars including Steven Pinker and Daniel Gilbert
“I gave up on math when I was in school because it was so difficult, but looking back, I felt like I was missing something.”
When we think of math, we often think of difficult tests and complex formulas, but the way people approach math these days is changing dramatically.
Anyone can handle at least one 'formula' in the office program Excel.
Famous CEOs take turns talking about 'big data' or 'statistics' at least once.
Mathematics is becoming more closely integrated into our lives, and the number of cultural industries that make mathematics more interesting is also increasing.
In this day and age, there are surprisingly many people who feel a thirst for mathematics as they go through life.
This thirst seems to stem from the fact that I have not yet properly learned how to become familiar with mathematics, a tool for logically interpreting life and a place for pure intellectual thought.
It is for these very people that the greatest scholar of our time has opened up the story of mathematics in the New York Times.
He was none other than Stephen Strogatz, who joked to his friend who was particularly afraid of math, “I think I should start from 1+1=2 and teach it step by step from the beginning.”
He is currently a professor of applied mathematics at Cornell University and is known as the Carl Sagan of the mathematics world. He has taken on the extraordinary task of introducing mathematics from kindergarten to graduate school to the general public.
A mathematics column was serialized in the online New York Times for 15 weeks under the title "Elementary Theory of Mathematics."
Readers of all ages were enthusiastic about this unique column, saying, "It's so damn funny," and they flooded me with questions and comments via email and comments.
And the book published based on this is “The Joy of X.”
This book was selected as one of Amazon's best science books in 2012, and in 2014, it won the Euler Book Award, given by the Mathematical Society of America for a book that has made a significant contribution to the popularization of mathematics.
Not only did it receive rave reviews from scholars like Steven Pinker and Daniel Gilbert, but the Korean edition also received a loving recommendation from Dr. Kim Min-hyung of Oxford University.
Of Strogatz's books, The Pleasure of X is the most popular and the most entertaining.
This book will be of interest to students who are currently studying, but even mathematicians who already know the content will praise it, saying, "It's amazing that mathematics can be taught like this."
Scholars from other fields are also eager to praise him. Dr. Kim Min-hyung of Oxford University, who was a colleague and inspiration to Strogatz while teaching at MIT, praised him in his foreword to the Korean edition of "The Joy of X," calling him "a special researcher who helped us realize the value of applied mathematics."
What is the difference between “Fish, fish, fish, fish, fish, fish!” and “Fish 6!”?
Addition of Pebbles, Dance of Squares, Equations in Love
Returning to the most enjoyable math awakens your "math instinct."
Math is still difficult.
I'm scared.
If children come to me with a math problem, I'm quick to ignore them.
Come to think of it, I wonder if there was a time when I also found math fun.
But I can confidently say that everyone has had times like that.
《The Joy of X》reawakens the joy of mathematics that we have clearly felt but forgotten.
“Dad, there’s always a number between my age and my sister’s age.
I'm six now, my sister is eight, so there are seven years between us.
But later on, when we get older and I turn twenty, you will be twenty-two, and there will be some things in between!”
For children, mathematics comes as a surprise.
Strogatz takes us back to the days when we first learned mathematics by giving fresh interpretations to basic mathematical concepts that we are familiar with.
And the journey boldly draws upon cultures we know well, such as the television program "Sesame Street," the Japanese novel "The Equation the Doctor Loved," and Shakespeare's classic "Romeo and Juliet."
There is a certain magical power in the mathematics we begin to learn early in life.
“Fish, fish, fish, fish, fish, fish!” shouts Humphrey from Sesame Street as he receives orders for fish dishes from six guests.
But it's much easier to say "Fish 6!"
The moment we say the number 6, we enter a profound world of new concepts.
What kind of revolution have the thoughtless use of Arabic numerals and zero brought about in the world? Did you know that to logically prove anything, you must refer to geometry? Both Newton's "Principia" and Spinoza's "Ethics" imitate geometric proofs.
What if the word problems that have always trapped us are actually the ultimate tools for reshaping our outdated thinking? Did you know that Archimedes simply cut and cut a circle to calculate pi? If you could express the love between Romeo and Juliet using differential equations, what would the resulting equation be? Once you've experienced the loneliness and mystery inherent in prime numbers divisible only by themselves and 1, you'll be immersed in the allure of mathematics, a discipline that satisfies both reason and emotion.
“What use is mathematics in life?”
If only I had met such a kind and fun teacher sooner…
Unraveling the hidden mathematics in our lives
There is one thing that people who hate math usually say.
“What use are these formulas in life?” This is a common question from people who are not interested in math classes where students are forced to memorize formulas or solve problems without explaining how math relates to daily life.
As Strogatz moves on to explaining higher mathematics, he begins to connect mathematics and our lives very closely.
If, when first learning calculus, we had only heard a simple explanation like, "Differential calculus tells us how fast something changes, and integral calculus tells us how much something accumulates," how much more accessible would calculus have been? Had we known that quadratic equations arose from the process of determining how much of a parent's inheritance to distribute to their children, we might have found the process of figuring out the unknown x to be a necessary and enjoyable one.
By finding a place for mathematics that was once so elusive, Strogatz eliminates the aversion to difficult higher mathematics and brings out the mathematics embedded in the everyday actions and technologies we use in our daily lives.
After showing that the field of mathematics is limitless, such as that even the way to dance contains mathematical information called vectors, that topology can be used to spread more cream cheese on a bagel, and that the unique search service Google uses a 'popularity vote' method to find sites, the book guides readers into the 'infinite' realm that has not yet been touched by human hands.
Kim Min-hyung (mathematician): If you were to name a master of applied mathematics, the name that naturally comes to mind would be Strogatz. "The Joy of X" is a book full of stories that can be learned by both adults who have long since left school and students who are still studying.
- (Professor of Mathematics, Oxford University, author of Dad's Math Journey and Prime Number Fantasy)
Steven Pinker (psychologist): A fascinating journey into the beauty and joy of mathematics, in the tradition of Lewis Carroll, George Gamow, and Martin Gardner.
The Joy of X will entertain you, surprise you, and make you smarter.
(Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, author of How the Mind Works and The Language Instinct)
Daniel Gilbert (Psychologist): Every time you turn the page, a fantastic mathematical story unfolds.
Strogatz discovered a magical function that turns 'mathematics' into 'fun'.
“It goes beyond simply and clearly explaining everything about mathematics that used to baffle you, and makes mathematics wonderful, enjoyable, and surprising.”
(Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, author of Stumbling on Happiness)
Joshua Foer (Journalist): This engaging book will remind you just how beautiful and fascinating mathematics can be.
Strogatz is the math teacher we all wish we had.
(Author of Moonwalking with Einstein)
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Date of issue: July 14, 2014
- Page count, weight, size: 360 pages | 508g | 147*219*20mm
- ISBN13: 9788901165813
- ISBN10: 8901165813
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