The Best Writing on Mathematics 2014

by Mircea Pitici (Editor)

The year's finest writing on mathematics from around the worldThis annual anthology brings together the year's finest mathematics writing from around the world. Featuring promising new voices alongside some of the foremost names in the field, The Best Writing on Mathematics 2014 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 John Conway presents examples of arithmetical statements that are almost certainly true but likely unprovable; Carlo Séquin explores, compares, and illustrates distinct types of one-sided surfaces known as Klein bottles; Keith Devlin asks what makes a video game good for learning mathematics and shows why many games fall short of that goal; Jordan Ellenberg reports on a recent breakthrough in the study of prime numbers; Stephen Pollard argues that mathematical practice, thinking, and experience transcend the utilitarian value of mathematics; and much, much more.In addition to presenting the year’s most memorable writings on mathematics, this must-have anthology includes an introduction by editor Mircea Pitici. This book belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in where math has taken us—and where it is headed.

Genres: Mathematics, Nonfiction

371 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 21, 2014

Reviews

[Mark Moon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely not one of my favorites in this series so far, but still plenty of interesting stuff.

Highlights:

"Generic Proving: Reflections on Scope and Method" by Uri Leron and Orit Zaslavsky

"Stuck in the Middle: Cauchy’s Intermediate Value Theorem and the History of Analytic Rigor" by Michael J. Barany

"The Beauty of Bounded Gaps" by Jordan Ellenberg

[Peter Flom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of articles that involve mathematics that were published in non-mathematics journals. As with any edited collection, I liked some much more than others. Recommended for math lovers

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good mix, broadening my horizons.