Impossible?: Surprising Solutions to Counterintuitive Conundrums - Hardcover

Havil, Julian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691131317 ISBN 13: 9780691131313

Verlag: Princeton University Press, 2008

Inhaltsangabe

A marvelous medley of the utterly confusing, profound, and unbelievable presents counterintuitive mathematical occurrences and entertaining problems from probability and statistics, as well as an eclectic variety of conundrums and puzzlers from other areas of mathematics.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Julian Havil is a retired former master at Winchester College, England, where he taught mathematics for thirty-three years. In addition to "Nonplussed!", he is the author of "Gamma: Exploring Euler's Constant" (both Princeton).

Von der hinteren Coverseite

"Julian Havil's Impossible? is a superb discussion of problems easily understood by a high schooler, yet with solutions so counterintuitive as to seem impossible. Topics include the notorious Monty Hall three-door problem, the Gamow-Stern elevator paradoxes, the Kruskal count card trick, Cantor's 'paradise' of alephs, and the mind-blowing Banach-Tarski paradox, all analyzed in depth by a master who does not hold back equations that provide elegant proofs. There are surprises on almost every page."--Martin Gardner

"This book is a fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable read. Havil offers an engaging collection of counterintuitive results and seemingly impossible problems. Some of the material is truly astonishing, and the author conveys his sense of surprise very effectively. Each problem ultimately yields to careful and well-presented analysis. The history of many of the results is discussed, and further references are provided."--Nick Hobson, creator of the award-winning Web siteNick's Mathematical Puzzles

"I thought it impossible for Julian Havil to exceed Nonplussed!, his previous collection of perplexing math puzzlers. And yet he has done just that with the sequelImpossible?, an accomplishment that has left me nonplussed."--Paul J. Nahin, author ofAn Imaginary Tale

Aus dem Klappentext

"Julian Havil's Impossible? is a superb discussion of problems easily understood by a high schooler, yet with solutions so counterintuitive as to seem impossible. Topics include the notorious Monty Hall three-door problem, the Gamow-Stern elevator paradoxes, the Kruskal count card trick, Cantor's 'paradise' of alephs, and the mind-blowing Banach-Tarski paradox, all analyzed in depth by a master who does not hold back equations that provide elegant proofs. There are surprises on almost every page."--Martin Gardner

"This book is a fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable read. Havil offers an engaging collection of counterintuitive results and seemingly impossible problems. Some of the material is truly astonishing, and the author conveys his sense of surprise very effectively. Each problem ultimately yields to careful and well-presented analysis. The history of many of the results is discussed, and further references are provided."--Nick Hobson, creator of the award-winning Web site Nick's Mathematical Puzzles

"I thought it impossible for Julian Havil to exceed Nonplussed!, his previous collection of perplexing math puzzlers. And yet he has done just that with the sequel Impossible?, an accomplishment that has left me nonplussed."--Paul J. Nahin, author of An Imaginary Tale

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Princeton University Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2008
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0691131317
• ISBN 13: 9780691131313
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 235
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Princeton University Press; https://press.princeton.edu/books; ; 7th Floor, New South Building; PRINCETON; NJ; 8544; USA
• Verantwortliche Person: Buchpark GmbH; gpsr@buchpark.de; ; Krügerweg 1; Trebbin; Brandenburg; 14959; Deutschland