Cogwheels of the Mind
The Story of Venn Diagrams
Published on 5. July 2004
Book
Hardback
128 pages
978-0-8018-7434-5 (ISBN)
Description
Used today in spheres of life as diverse as business strategy, creative writing, medicine, computer science, and theoretical physics, Venn diagrams possess fascinating properties. The basic Venn diagram is both elegantly simple-three overlapping circles that intersect to create eight distinct areas-and conceptually innovative. Devised by English logician John Venn (1834-1923) to visually represent complex logical propositions and algebraic statements, the diagrams drew the excited interest of both scholars and the general public. In Cogwheels of the Mind, statistician and geneticist A. W. F. Edwards provides an accessible and engaging history of the Venn diagram, its reception and evolution, and its presence in such objects and images as Christian iconography, tennis balls, and flags which provide a rich source of Venn diagrams for Edwards, including those of Switzerland, Poland, and Japan (all one-set Venn diagrams), Greenland (a two-set Venn diagram), and Maryland (a three-set device).
Edwards begins with a sketch of Venn's life, his discovery of the three-circle design while developing a series of lectures on symbolic logic at Cambridge University, and the publication of his find in an 1880 paper, and, more influentially, his 1881 book, Symbolic Logic. Edwards discusses the rival diagrammatic scheme invented by Charles Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, who also developed a board game based on his design. The author also recreates famous Venn diagrams from history, including Winston Churchill's of 1948 depicting the mutual interests of the British Empire, a united Europe, and the English-speaking world, with the United Kingdom located at the intersection. Edwards goes on to show how different shapes can be linked together to form artistically beautiful and mathematically important, multi-set Venn diagrams, including the author's own influential Adelaide variation. And he delineates the possibilities for expanding the analytic power of these diagrams far beyond those first appreciated by Venn. Edwards even tells readers how to draw complex Venn diagrams on a spherical surface to create "Vennis balls."
For anyone interested in mathematics or its history, Cogwheels of the Mind is invaluable and compelling reading.
Edwards begins with a sketch of Venn's life, his discovery of the three-circle design while developing a series of lectures on symbolic logic at Cambridge University, and the publication of his find in an 1880 paper, and, more influentially, his 1881 book, Symbolic Logic. Edwards discusses the rival diagrammatic scheme invented by Charles Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, who also developed a board game based on his design. The author also recreates famous Venn diagrams from history, including Winston Churchill's of 1948 depicting the mutual interests of the British Empire, a united Europe, and the English-speaking world, with the United Kingdom located at the intersection. Edwards goes on to show how different shapes can be linked together to form artistically beautiful and mathematically important, multi-set Venn diagrams, including the author's own influential Adelaide variation. And he delineates the possibilities for expanding the analytic power of these diagrams far beyond those first appreciated by Venn. Edwards even tells readers how to draw complex Venn diagrams on a spherical surface to create "Vennis balls."
For anyone interested in mathematics or its history, Cogwheels of the Mind is invaluable and compelling reading.
Reviews / Votes
Edwards arrives with this pleasing little history about who John Venn was, why he conceived of the diagram, and the properties that lie secreted beneath such a seemingly simple mathematical object... A world-class authority, Edwards... proves himself wholly accessible to anyone interested in reading about mathematics. Booklist Deserves to become a minor classic and may well go on to make many friends for mathematics. -- Jeremy Gray Nature 2004 Entertaining. Boston Sunday Globe Edwards is a charming if earnest guide, and the many illustrations of the beautiful cogwheels will fascinate and satisfy. -- Ben Longstaff New Scientist The kind of book that I can imagine giving to a wide range of readers: any junior high student would be able to follow the mathematics, and most professors would find it interesting... I found it to be a nice-if light-read, and it is well worth a look. -- Darren Glass MAA Online Many excellent and graphically exciting illustrations of Venn diagrams transform what might have been a simple math book into one that shows that mathematics can generate pictures that could be considered... in the forefront of modern art. School Library Journal Give this book to any youngster with an enquiring mind, and watch delight develop. -- John Haigh Significance 2004 There is a nice balance between personal anecdotes, history, aesthetics and attention to detail... The overall result should become something of a classic. -- B. I. Henry The Physicist Venn diagrams are familiar as pictorial representations of relationships among sets, and statistician Edwards discusses their development... He shows how to interlink shapes to form beautiful Venn diagrams. Choice 2004 I heartily recommend it for readers interested in knowing more about John Venn and the geometric properties of Venn diagrams. It will also be appreciated by those interested in the process of mathematical discovery. -- Frank Ruskey American Scientist An insightful history of the diagrams. Scientific American 2004 Lovely little book... which should not be summarized. It should be bought and enjoyed first-hand. It is a book in which mathematics and its history are combined in a lovely autobiographical account of a voyage of discovery. The mathematics is interesting, the history is interesting, the personal account is interesting, and the book, with its elegant full-colour pictures and diagrams is beautifully produced. The author and his publisher are to be warmly thanked and congratulated. -- Peter M. Neumann British Society for the History of Mathematics Bulletin 2004 A short book, with a fittingly large number of illustrations, it summarizes a wealth of logical and geometric ideas. -- Rob Hardy The Times of Acadiana 2005 If you have an interest in the history of mathematical ideas and the creative process of mathematicians, then I recommend this book. -- John Wilkins Mathematics Teacher 2005 Edwards' fascinating study relates this invention to the study of mathematics, scientific thought, graphic design, and modern art. School Library Journal 2005 A very short readable book on attempts to physically represent the intersection of any number of sets. -- Jim Kiernan Convergence 2005 There is no better place to start than with Cogwheels of the Mind. -- Frank Ruskey American Scientist 2005 This is a wonderful book which should be taken simply for what it is, the story of the Venn-Edwards diagrams. -- Amirouche Moktefi Review of Modern Logic 2005 An engaging, very readable, and profusely illustrated account. Historia Mathematica 2006 An easy, friendly, and enlightening book to read... Would be of particular interest to college professors, especially those involved in teaching a History of Mathematics class and/or a Graph theory class. -- Darlinda Cassel School Science and Mathematics 2007More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Baltimore, MD
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
12 farbige Abbildungen
12 Illustrations, color
Dimensions
Height: 242 mm
Width: 181 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
549 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8018-7434-5 (9780801874345)
DOI
10.56021/9780801874345
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
A. W. F. Edwards is, like John Venn before him, a fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He is the author of Likelihood and Pascal's Arithmetical Triangle, both available from Johns Hopkins.
Content
Foreword
Preface
Chapter 1. John Venn and His Logic Diagram
Chapter 2. Rings, Flags, and Balls
Chapter 3. Five and More Sets
Chapter 4. The Gray Code, Binomial Coefficients, and the Revolving-Door Algorithm
Chapter 5. Cosine Curves and Sine Curves
Chapter 6. Ironing the Hypercube
Chapter 7. Diagrams with Rotational Symmetry
Appendix 1. Metrical Venn Diagrams
Appendix 2. A Rotatable Edwards-Venn Diagram
References
Index
Preface
Chapter 1. John Venn and His Logic Diagram
Chapter 2. Rings, Flags, and Balls
Chapter 3. Five and More Sets
Chapter 4. The Gray Code, Binomial Coefficients, and the Revolving-Door Algorithm
Chapter 5. Cosine Curves and Sine Curves
Chapter 6. Ironing the Hypercube
Chapter 7. Diagrams with Rotational Symmetry
Appendix 1. Metrical Venn Diagrams
Appendix 2. A Rotatable Edwards-Venn Diagram
References
Index