Putting Two and Two Together
Selections from the Mathologer Files
Published on 30. January 2022
Book
Paperback/Softback
270 pages
978-1-4704-6011-2 (ISBN)
Description
Putting Two and Two Together is a humorous and quirky collection of unusual, ingenious, and beautiful morsels of mathematics. Authors Burkard Polster (YouTube's Mathologer) and Marty Ross delve into mathematical puzzles and phenomena in engaging stories featuring current events, sports, and history, many flavored with a distinctive bit of Australiana. Each chapter ends with ""puzzles to ponder"" that will spur further reflection. These stories were written for a general audience, and originally appeared in the Maths Masters column in The Age newspaper. The book offers mathematical entertainment for curious readers of all ages, and assumes a minimum of mathematical background.
Reviews / Votes
Polster and Ross are masters of the genre this book represents: a cornucopia of offerings, from across the mathematical spectrum. Their articles are entertaining, captivating, and informative, and will appeal to everyone from interested amateurs to old pros. On top of all that, the prose is clear, concise and a lot of fun-happily with a charmingly Aussie flavo(u)r. Crack the spine and enjoy!"" -Michael Berg, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles""The American Mathematical Society must be congratulated on publishing a singularly amusing synthesis of cultural anthropology coupled with mathematical entertainment."" -Tushar Das, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
""Polster and Ross are as good as the original master, Martin Gardner! They are also as good as that other great popularizer of mathematics, Ian Stewart, who took up Gardner's mantle, and as good as Douglas Hofstedter, who also followed in Gardner's footsteps as popularizers of mathematics within regular columns in Scientific American', and elsewhere. I recommend this new book very highly! Like Poster and Ross's first collection of columns, it is one that you can happily read from cover to cover, or dip into at any random point, and find treasures. You will then often return, savouring, and often laughing, while also learning, and responding to thoughtful challenges!"" -John Gough, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Providence
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 254 mm
Width: 178 mm
Weight
514 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4704-6011-2 (9781470460112)
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
Burkard Polster, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
Marty Ross, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
Marty Ross, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
Content
Putting two and two together: Cordial math
Uncovering base motives
Sneaky square dance
A very strange set of blocks
Parabolic production line
The magic of the imaginary
There's no $e$ in Euler
What's the best way to lace your shoes?
Ringing the changes
The shape of things to come: Triangle surfer dude
We have it pegged
Shadowlands
Picture perfect
Tractrix and truck tricks
Cycling in circles
Which way did Natalie go?
$\pi=3$
Just the right level of wine
Spotting an unfortunate spot
Summing up the mystery of flight MH370
Choc-full of mathematics
Too hot, too cold, just right
A bloody good sport: Seeds of doubt
Tennis math, anyone?
The ball was in AND out? You cannot be serious!
Giving it your best shot
Bombs, and a bombed Riewoldt
Diophantine footy fan
Walk, don't run!
Tour de math
How round is your soccer ball?
And the winner is...
The house that math built: Visionary Voronoi
Melbourne's catenary chaos
Eureka!
Archimedes' crocodile
Melbourne Grammar mystery map
A rectangle, some spheres and lots of triangles
A chance encounter: So you think you can beat the bookies?
A Penney for your thoughts
The Playmobil mystery
The devil is in the dice
The Freddo Frog path to perfection
Will Rogers, clever Kiwis and medical magic
The hidden karma of snakes and ladders
Space and time, final frontiers: Poet of the universe
Escape to our Moon planet
Tickling Orion with a triangle
The eternal triangles
On primes and Pluto
The math of planet Mars
Letter from Germany: The eternal grind
Calendar kinks
Strange moves of a mathematical feast
Lucky Friday the 13th
On the shoulders of lesser giants: Hermann the hermit
The equals of Robert Recorde
Pythagoras's theorem ain't Pythagoras's
Six of one, Babylonian the other
It's Chris Mass time
Clearing a logjam
Squares, triangles and other labor-saving devices
The doodle, the witch and Maria
Christian Goldbach's magic sum
Solutions to the puzzles
Uncovering base motives
Sneaky square dance
A very strange set of blocks
Parabolic production line
The magic of the imaginary
There's no $e$ in Euler
What's the best way to lace your shoes?
Ringing the changes
The shape of things to come: Triangle surfer dude
We have it pegged
Shadowlands
Picture perfect
Tractrix and truck tricks
Cycling in circles
Which way did Natalie go?
$\pi=3$
Just the right level of wine
Spotting an unfortunate spot
Summing up the mystery of flight MH370
Choc-full of mathematics
Too hot, too cold, just right
A bloody good sport: Seeds of doubt
Tennis math, anyone?
The ball was in AND out? You cannot be serious!
Giving it your best shot
Bombs, and a bombed Riewoldt
Diophantine footy fan
Walk, don't run!
Tour de math
How round is your soccer ball?
And the winner is...
The house that math built: Visionary Voronoi
Melbourne's catenary chaos
Eureka!
Archimedes' crocodile
Melbourne Grammar mystery map
A rectangle, some spheres and lots of triangles
A chance encounter: So you think you can beat the bookies?
A Penney for your thoughts
The Playmobil mystery
The devil is in the dice
The Freddo Frog path to perfection
Will Rogers, clever Kiwis and medical magic
The hidden karma of snakes and ladders
Space and time, final frontiers: Poet of the universe
Escape to our Moon planet
Tickling Orion with a triangle
The eternal triangles
On primes and Pluto
The math of planet Mars
Letter from Germany: The eternal grind
Calendar kinks
Strange moves of a mathematical feast
Lucky Friday the 13th
On the shoulders of lesser giants: Hermann the hermit
The equals of Robert Recorde
Pythagoras's theorem ain't Pythagoras's
Six of one, Babylonian the other
It's Chris Mass time
Clearing a logjam
Squares, triangles and other labor-saving devices
The doodle, the witch and Maria
Christian Goldbach's magic sum
Solutions to the puzzles