Islands of Truth: A Mathematical Mystery Cruise

by Ivars Peterson

Ivars Peterson has come up with another itinerary of Mathland - where the habitat is mysterious and the inhabitants fascinating. He explores uncharted islands, introducing strange vibrations in the shadows of chaos, new twists in knot physics, and the straight side of circles. The tour is enjoyable to experienced travellers and first-time tourists alike. Peterson, a journalist with Science News, makes the arcane intelligible by interpreting mathematics into engaging prose.

Genres: Mathematics, Nonfiction, Science

Paperback

First published May 15, 1990

Reviews

[David Zerangue · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book encompasses a number of mathematical concepts and moves in a whirlwind fashion. The first half of the first chapter I could follow. I quickly became lost as I moved further along the first chapter and into the second chapter. Luckily, the third and subsequent chapters were a bit less abstract (more in alignment with my interests, background, etc.) that I was able to appreciate the topics. It started getting a bit abstract again in the last two chapters. I would imagine mathematicians enjoy reading this book as it is probably (in their view) a layman's book on the various topics. I do not believe us non-mathematicians would find it such an easy read (as I did not). Regardless, I certainly have an appreciation for the field and for those working in this field.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a gentle introduction to such topics as chaos theory, topology (knots), pi, polynomial complexity, etc. This was on my shelf since the sort of thing was highly stimulating as a mathematics undergrad. I still recall the definition here of concave vs. convex around connecting points.