The Best Writing on Mathematics 2010

by Mircea Pitici

This anthology brings together the year's finest writing on mathematics from around the world. Featuring promising new voices alongside some of the foremost names in mathematics, The Best Writing on Mathematics makes available to a wide audience many articles not easily found anywhere else--and you don't need to be a mathematician to enjoy them. These writings offer surprising insights into the nature, meaning, and practice of mathematics today. They delve into the history, philosophy, teaching, and everyday occurrences of math, and take readers behind the scenes of today's hottest mathematical debates. Here readers will discover why Freeman Dyson thinks some mathematicians are birds while others are frogs; why Keith Devlin believes there's more to mathematics than proof; what Nick Paumgarten has to say about the timing patterns of New York City's traffic lights (and why jaywalking is the most mathematically efficient way to cross Sixty-sixth Street); what Samuel Arbesman can tell us about the epidemiology of the undead in zombie flicks; and much, much more.In addition to presenting the year's most memorable writing on mathematics, this must-have anthology also includes a foreword by esteemed mathematician William Thurston and an informative introduction by Mircea Pitici. This book belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in where math has taken us--and where it's headed.

Genres: Mathematics, Nonfiction, Science

Paperback Bunko

First published December 1, 2010

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as many of the papers interested me as in 2014 or 2015, but still enough to keep me going

[Ray Savarda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good selection, not too many that jumped up and were really great, but good.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is typical of anthologies, in that for almost all people, some of the papers will excite while others will be somewhat dull. For not everyone is interested in all mathematics in all the ranges from research to history to education to fun.
Yet, there is also something in here that will titillate the math parts of every person interested in mathematics. The level of the papers is that of popular mathematics, there are few equations and those are generally below the level of college mathematics.
The papers are organized into the sections:

*) Mathematics alive
*) Mathematicians and the practice of mathematics
*) Mathematics and its applications
*) Mathematics education
*) History and philosophy of mathematics
*) Mathematics in the media

One of my favorite papers was “If Mathematics Is a Language, How Do You Swear in It? “ by David Wagner. He notes that one category of swearing is to say something non-permissible, which is rather easy to do in mathematics. It contains an amusing collection of analogies between verbal and mathematical improprieties. Like many other items in this collect, it would be an excellent article to have math classes read and discuss.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission and this review appears on Amazon.

[dead letter office · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Freeman Dyson piece is great. The Carlo Celucci piece is awful (but only from the readability, coherency, enjoyability, and correctness standpoints). The others that I read are somewhere in between, but mostly worth reading. This book is on standby until December since I left it with someone I won't see for 6 months.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

As expected for an anthology, some pieces were excellent while others were junk. In the early going only about 50% of the essays were to my liking, but the last half of the collection was generally quite good with only one stinker. I'd recommend it to those who have done at least a little mathematics themselves.

[Robert Giambo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed quality of short essays on mathematics. Of interest to the mathematically inclined only.

[Alan Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The articles varied greatly in degree of difficulty and in degree of interest. Worth reading, but I skipped some articles.