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Mathematical Amazements and Surprises: Fascinating Figures and Noteworthy Numbers |  | Authors: Alfred S. Posamentier, Ingmar Lehmann
Creator: Herbert A. Hauptman
Publisher: Prometheus Books
List Price: $20.98
Buy New: $11.36
as of 11/21/2009 22:59 CST details
You Save: $9.62 (46%)
New (24) Used (7) from $11.36
Seller: book-worm-outlet
Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 41997
Media: Paperback
Pages: 269
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.9 x 6.9 x 0.9
ISBN: 1591027233
Dewey Decimal Number: 510
EAN: 9781591027232
ASIN: 1591027233
Publication Date: July 30, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
What are the odds of finding two people who share the same birth date in a room of thirty-five? Most people would guess they're pretty low. In actuality, the probability is better than 80 percent. This is just one of many entertaining examples of mathematical curiosities presented in this book. If you have been waiting for a book that will evoke the delight and intrigue that mathematics has to offer, this is the book for you. Mathematics educators Alfred S Posamentier and Ingmar Lehmann have created the perfect introduction to the wonders of mathematics for the general reader, requiring only a high school background in the subject. Among the entertaining and useful tricks they teach are shortcuts in arithmetic, such as ways to determine at a glance the exact divisors of any given number. They also demonstrate how the properties of certain numbers can lead to infinite loops. What is particularly exciting is how many correct answers turn out to be counterintuitive. Exploring all these features will instill insights into the nature of numbers, improve your ability to manipulate them, and give you an appreciation for the inherent elegance of mathematics. Posamentier and Lehmann evoke the beauty of mathematics through the visual aspect of geometry. Enjoy with them the riches of the aesthetic and surprising properties to be found in triangles, quadrilaterals, and circles. As you marvel at the many unusual relationships and novelties revealed in this ingenious and delightful presentation, you will be learning more maths than you ever thought possible - and will be relishing every moment of it!
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| Customer Reviews:
Delightful and stimulating October 17, 2009
Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Any library strong in math and science will find Mathematical Amazements and Surprises: Fascinating Figures and Noteworthy Numbers delightful and stimulating. It provides fun math insights, highlighting the beauty and significance of numbers, and offering both novices and professionals arithmetic entertainment at its best. Many a high school to college-level library will find a winner here - but general-interest lending libraries will also find it a fun, different pick.
A Wonderfully Amazing & Fascinating Study October 2, 2009
Larry Underwood (Scottsdale, AZ)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Authors Posamentier & Lehmann have compiled an entertaining & engaging book sure to amaze anyone about the crazy nuances in the study of mathematics. Even if math isn't your strong suit, you'll enjoy this wonderful guide; in fact, it's probably more enjoyable for the mathematically challenged individual (such as me), because it demonstrates how fun numbers can be, if we just give them the chance.
I loved it. For anyone looking to expand their knowledge on the often perplexing world of mathematics, pick up this gem; you'll feel much more comfortable with a once intimidating subject, and realize that it's not all that hard to have fun with those mind boggling numerical equations.
Amazing - Surprising August 31, 2009
Claudia Etheridge (Tucson, Arizona USA)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
"Philosophy is written in this greatest book constantly open before our eyes.......... It is written in the language of mathematics and the characters are triangles, circles and other geometric figures........." wrote Galileo. With "Mathematical Amazements and Surprises" (their latest work), the authors may not decipher such language for the reader, nor translate it into English , but they certainly prove that the language of mathematics does exist.
The book consists of 5 chapters which are titled: "Number Properties and Relationships" "Arithmetic Entertainments and Novelties", "Arithmetic Loops", "Geometry Surprises" and "Mathematical Nuggets: Amazing, but True!". The chapters are followed by an afterward by Nobel Laureate H.A. Hauptman. It also includes an appendix that lists "Triangular, Square and Cubic Numbers".
Particularly interesting to me was the chapter on arithmetic loops. By following certain paths and by making the necessary calculations, we end up into loops the validity of which the most skeptical mind will not be able to deny.
Anybody who believes that there is more to our universe than what the five senses (or even the average mind) can recognize, will enjoy the subjects discussed.
A beautiful piece of work . It is not often that a book delivers so convincingly the promise in the title.
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For the nit-picking, this is another book by Alfred S. Posamentier and Ingmar Lehmann, authors of "The (Fabulous) Fibonacci Numbers". Such book was criticized by some of the Amazon.com reviewers for containing inaccuracies. I do not know if this one also does, as I am not a mathematician and did not linger on the detail. But, whether or not there are inaccuracies here as well, the message is what matters most, just like it was the case for the previous work. Such message is conveyed in as clear a manner as can be done.
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