...of any good books about Mathematics that an adult would enjoy? I want to get Mr. Tare an extra father's day gift and he has been blabbering on to me about math and how he wants to read more about it and learn more about it once he's done his masters.
Do people actually like math? That's crazy to me. :)
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What's bred in the bone will not out of the flesh.
I just recently read Godel's Proof, which is an analysis of (duh) Godel's proof and an explanation of his demonstration of the incompleteness of mathematical systems. It's a good book for a math geek, though fairly short. Much heftier is Godel, Escher, Bach, which I haven't read but heard very highly recommended.
Has he read Infinity and the Mind by Rudy Rucker? It's math and more. I enjoyed it several years ago and it's still a very popular book.
Tare wrote:
...of any good books about Mathematics that an adult would enjoy? I want to get Mr. Tare an extra father's day gift and he has been blabbering on to me about math and how he wants to read more about it and learn more about it once he's done his masters.
Do people actually like math? That's crazy to me. :)
Do people actually like math? That's crazy to me. :)
I don't know anything about books. I enjoy number puzzles. Kakuro (cross-sums) being the latest number puzzle craze - a puzzle book maybe?
Alma wrote:
I lost my post
The Elegant Universe has lots of math in it.
I just read Wikipedia articles on things like googol, googolplex, and the like. doesn't make any sense, really, just an excuse to make my brain melty.
publiusvarus wrote:
we all know liberals are well adjusted american citizens who only want what's best for society. While conservatives are evil money grubbing scum who only want to sh*t on the little man and rob the world of its resources.
Professor Stewart's Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities is pretty good and fairly lightweight. Is that the kind of thing you're looking for?
Maybe a little light on advanced mathematics, but what about Freakonomics, or something by Bill James if he's into baseball?
Or there's several books out there about the 300-year process it took to solve Fermat's Last Theorem.
Get him to do some number theory. More than other subjects though it's not easy to get started (i.e. really get to grips with the intuition behind stuff like "If a divides b then b = ca for some c"), still with some really very basic tools you can prove a lot of interesting results. For example, you can start with
Euclid's algorithm
where a is any integer,
a = bq + r where b is any natural number and q, r integers. b > r >(or=) 0
From that you can explore prime numbers, and go on to prove that every number >2 is a product of primes, that there are infinitely many primes, and a lot of other stuff.
Look for books that mention the above phrases, that contain easy proofs and a good introduction. Avoid anything mentioning "analytic number theory"; that's a lot harder, and for these results you don't really need advanced maths at all.
Edited, Jun 18th 2009 2:08pm by Youshutup
Euclid's algorithm
where a is any integer,
a = bq + r where b is any natural number and q, r integers. b > r >(or=) 0
From that you can explore prime numbers, and go on to prove that every number >2 is a product of primes, that there are infinitely many primes, and a lot of other stuff.
Look for books that mention the above phrases, that contain easy proofs and a good introduction. Avoid anything mentioning "analytic number theory"; that's a lot harder, and for these results you don't really need advanced maths at all.
Edited, Jun 18th 2009 2:08pm by Youshutup
I'm not really sure what I'm looking for. I suppose something to do with theorems or history but nothing overly dry (is that even possible??). He seems to be interested in how much of a factor math plays in everyday life or something along those lines. He's read Freakonomics, I think.
What's bred in the bone will not out of the flesh.
Phi, The Golden Ratio.
It's light on the advanced math and somewhat sensationalist, but it's good for a laugh.
It's light on the advanced math and somewhat sensationalist, but it's good for a laugh.
I enjoyed Flatland a lot. However, that may be too fiction oriented (or geometry oriented) for what you are looking for.
Is your husband a 14 year old girl? Get him that book by Winnie Cooper.
Belkira wrote:
Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
Rate-ups for all the math dorks in this thread. <insert cheeky smiley here>
What's bred in the bone will not out of the flesh.
Tare wrote:
I'm not really sure what I'm looking for. I suppose something to do with theorems or history but nothing overly dry (is that even possible??). He seems to be interested in how much of a factor math plays in everyday life or something along those lines. He's read Freakonomics, I think.
Cryptonomicon.
Gbaji hated it - how bad can it be?
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
Samira wrote:
(Samira has the best book picks)
Alma wrote:
I lost my post
Quote:
I enjoyed Flatland a lot. However, that may be too fiction oriented (or geometry oriented) for what you are looking for.
That had to do with math? I mean ostensibly the subject of he book is geometry but wasn't the dual purpose of the book both a satire of victorian(? it's been a while) society and an epistemic critique of human perception of space?
Still a good book, I just never thought of it as very mathy.
I asked Mr. DSD since he's into all that stuff (I mean, this is a guy with Pi tattooed on his arm) and he recommended two books off the top of his head:
Consilence which is not primarily a math book, but how different pieces of knowledge in the world relate to one another (his dumbed down words for me) and also Fermat's Last Theorem: Unlocking the Secret of an Ancient Mathematical Problem
Consilence which is not primarily a math book, but how different pieces of knowledge in the world relate to one another (his dumbed down words for me) and also Fermat's Last Theorem: Unlocking the Secret of an Ancient Mathematical Problem
*obligatory Barbie comment for DSD*
Awww, bless your heart, sugah! 
Pensive wrote:
Quote:
I enjoyed Flatland a lot. However, that may be too fiction oriented (or geometry oriented) for what you are looking for.
That had to do with math? I mean ostensibly the subject of he book is geometry but wasn't the dual purpose of the book both a satire of victorian(? it's been a while) society and an epistemic critique of human perception of space?
Still a good book, I just never thought of it as very mathy.
Both satire commentary and a book to provoke thought about math. Particularly the sequels written by other people start really messing with other stuff: String Theory, Time Travel, and other such fun physics based subjects.
Flatland = Square entering third (and first) dimension
Sphereland = Non Euclidian geometry
Flatterland = Time Travel and Multi-verse
Spaceland = Cube entering the forth dimension (Not actually a direct sequel)
All of the later books especially try to make you think about how higher dimensions might look to us. Whether or not it is mathy to you, depends on how you view physics and geometry.
Edited, Jun 18th 2009 3:50pm by Karelyn
Samira wrote:
Gbaji hated it - how bad can it be?
Belkira wrote:
Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
Jophiel wrote:
Samira wrote:
Gbaji hated it - how bad can it be?
Man, I'm bringing enemies together like Jimmy Carter.
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
"If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you're gonna get selfish, ignorant leaders". Carlin.
Quote:
Do people actually like math? That's crazy to me. :)
Math was my favorite subject until high school, particularly Algebra 2 and Trig. After that it got too off-the-wall for me to feel like it's generally worthwhile to learn, and my interest quickly declined.
Basic algebra (Algebra 1) is IMO one of the most important math subjects for the average person to be familiar with, after basic +-*/ operations and all that.
Edited, Jun 18th 2009 6:01pm by Fynlar
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