STEVEN STROGATZ is a professor of applied mathematics at Cornell University. A renowned teacher and one of the world's most highly cited mathematicians, he has been a frequent guest on National Public Radio's RadioLab. He is the author of Sync and The Calculus of Friendship, the story of his thirty-year correspondence with his high school math teacher.
"A delightful exploration of the beauty and fun of mathematics, in
the best tradition of Lewis Carroll, George Gamow, and Martin
Gardner. The Joy of x will entertain you, amaze you, and make you
smarter."
-- Steven Pinker, Harvard College Professor of Psychology, Harvard
University, and author of How the Mind Works and The Language
Instinct "Steven Strogatz should do for math what Julia Child did
for cookery. He shows that this stuff really matters, and he shows
that it can nourish us."
-- James Gleick, author of The Information: A History, a Theory, a
Flood and Chaos "This joyous book will remind you just how
beautiful and mesmerizing math can be. Steve Strogatz is the
teacher we all wish we had."
-- Joshua Foer, author of Moonwalking with Einstein "I loved this
beautiful book from the first page. With his unique ingenuity and
affable charm, Strogatz disassembles mathematics as a subject, both
feared and revered, and reassembles it as a world, both accessible
and magical. The Joy of x is, well, a joy." -- Janna Levin,
Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Barnard College, Columbia
University, and author of How the Universe Got Its Spots and A
Madman Dreams of Turing Machines "Amazingly, mathematicians can see
patterns in the universe that the rest of us are usually blind to.
With clarity and dry wit, The Joy of x opens a window onto this
hidden world with its landscapes of beauty and wonder."
-- Alan Alda "This book is, simply put, fantastic. It introduces
the reader to the underlying concepts of mathematics -- presenting
reasons for its unfamiliar language and explaining conceptual
frameworks that do in fact make understanding complex problems
easier. In a world where mathematics is essential but, largely,
poorly understood, Steve Strogatz's teaching skills and deft
writing style are an important contribution."
-- Lisa Randall, Frank B. Baird, Jr., Professor of Science, Harvard
University, and author of Warped Passages and Knocking on Heaven's
Door "Strogatz has discovered a magical function that transforms
'math' into 'joy, ' page after wonderful page. He takes everything
that every mystified you about math and makes it better than clear
-- he makes it wondrous, delicious, and amazing."
-- Daniel Gilbert, Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and
author of Stumbling on Happiness "Strogatz may be the only person
alive with the skill to pied piper me into the murky abyss of set
theory. I literally learned something on every page, despite my
innumerate brain. This is a fantastic book, conveyed with clarity,
technical mastery, and infectious joy."
-- Jad Abumrad, host of Radiolab "Strogatz's graceful prose is
perfectly pitched for a popular math book: authoritative without
being patronizing, friendly without being whimsical, and always
clear and accessible. His x marks the spot -- and hits it."
-- Alex Bellos, author of Here's Looking at Euclid "Even the most
math-phobic readers might forget their dread after just a few pages
of Strogatz's (The Calculus of Friendship) latest. The author, a
Cornell professor of applied mathematics, begins with arithmetic,
by way of Sesame Street, then explores algebra, geometry, and,
finally, the wonders of calculus--all done cheerfully, with many a
wry turn of phrase. From addition and subtraction, with a glimpse
into negative numbers and 'the black art of borrowing, ' it's a
quick step into the hardcore detective work of algebra's search for
the unknown x, --
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