Suggest a summer read (Maths)

RastaManBob

RastaManBob

RastaManBob

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Hi,

Can anybody suggest any specific maths books? Ideally not straight text books (A la those I'd use at Uni) but either pop-maths or a "maths problems/proofs" (Or similar) book. Almost time for a summer holiday and as usual I'm after a book for the flight, etc. I've had a look and it seems there are many out there so I'm after personal recommendation.

Last year I took Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh with me which was enjoyable and therefore I intend to grab a copy of The Code Book... Still, I'd like a few more suggestions, too!

I'd also be interested in hearing any recommendations in the science/engineering/computing field... :)

Thanks!
 
As far as engineering goes, Engineering Mathematics by K A Stroud is quite a good one I hear. Looking to get hold of a copy.
 
suduko puzzle book

EDIT: I have actually got the stroud mathematics book and it is indeed very good and thorough with clear explanations
 
I'm strange too then :(

50 Mathematical ideas you really need to know is very good. (Tony Crilly)

Six easy pieces is very good (Richard Feynman)

The Code Book I found to be OK only.



Not strictly maths.......

Longitude is Excellent !! (Dava Sobel) The life story of John Harrison.

And if you have not already read A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson do yourself a treat and get of the best science reads ever !! I was absolutely captivated by this on a trip to America last year.

Enjoy the hols;)

Kieran
 
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GeForce said:
As far as engineering goes, Engineering Mathematics by K A Stroud is quite a good one I hear. Looking to get hold of a copy.
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ha... Stroud does not sound like the kind of book the OP is after!

How about:
Mathematics: The New Golden Age, Keith Devlin or
The Poincare Conjecture: In Search of the Shape of the Universe, Donal O'Shea
 
Needing this thread too!

Currently reading "The Drunkard's Walk" which is an entertaining, although not super heavy mathmatical insight into randomness, probabilities and how humans tend to percieve things wrong. Caught me out with things like, "Which is greater, the number of 6 letter words ending in ing, or the number of 6 letter words with the 5th letter as n?"

The answer is obvious if you actually think about it but the human mind goes toward things which it is familier with, even if it's not the probable, or even logical answer.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I've had a quick flick through the suggestions, some of those I have either read or own but lots of new ones to check out - Thanks for the heads up!

From a slightly different angle, can anybody recommend a mathematics puzzles style book, or one challenging you to find proofs, or even containing various "famous" interesting proofs to have a play with? I've had a look and there are so many that without personal recommendation it's impossible to find a good one!

Thanks again :).
 
Hxc said:
"Which is greater, the number of 6 letter words ending in ing, or the number of 6 letter words with the 5th letter as n?"

The answer is obvious if you actually think about it but the human mind goes toward things which it is familier with, even if it's not the probable, or even logical answer.
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gotta be n!

p.s. is this some random pre reading for uni?
 
GeForce said:
As far as engineering goes, Engineering Mathematics by K A Stroud is quite a good one I hear. Looking to get hold of a copy.
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Wait until you start your course. I found it completely surplus and not at all useful, on Mech Eng. We had more than enough notes to do well. Any gaps, there are loads of copies in the uni library. There's even one (or similar, all eng maths books are ok really) at my local library.
 
At the end of summer I'll be commencing my final (fourth) year of my Electrical and Electronic engineering MEng ungraduate degree... The request for books is in no way related to this though areas of interest of course over lap...

Simply, if I'm going to read a book I'd rather learn some from it, and I enjoy the subject of mathematics (Some very interesting reads already listed in this thread). For this reason I want to avoid straight forward text books (As in the OP).

If anybody can suggest any problems/puzzles/proofs book, that'd be great! :)
 
GeForce said:
As far as engineering goes, Engineering Mathematics by K A Stroud is quite a good one I hear. Looking to get hold of a copy.
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I have a copy on the bookshelf just above my head. I can definately say Engineering Mathematics by K A Stroud is the best Maths book i've ever had the pleasure of owning and reading. If you're going to pick a copy up, get Engineering Mathematics with Additions. It's the same book with extra bits such as advanced Laplace Transforms and numerical methods.
 
sorry not a problem book and someones already said it but Bill Byrsons history of everything is a great read, and at the same time a bit educational :)
 
Godel, Escher, Bach?

It's not really about engineering, more about how perceive the world, intelligence and recursion. Hard to explain.
 
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I assume you've already read "A brief history of time" ?

Also see if you can find a biography of Heddy Lamar a holywood actress who in the 40s invented CDMA (the system that many mobile/secure telecoms use today) !
 
I'm going to suggest a couple of less obvious books:

Prisoner's Dilemma: John Von Neumann, Game Theory and the Puzzle of the Bomb - William Poundstone

Plight of the Fortune Tellers - Riccardo Rebonato
 
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