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Quick(er) Calculations

How to add, subtract, multiply, divide, square, and square root more swiftly

Trevor Davis Lipscombe

$47.95

Hardback

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English
Oxford University Press
20 May 2021
"Finalist of the 2022 PROSE Awards

How fast can you calculate? Would you like to be faster? This book presents the time honored tricks and tips of calculation, from a fresh perspective, to boost the speed at which you can add DL whether a couple of numbers, or columns so long an accountant may faint. Find out how to subtract, multiply, divide, and find square roots more quickly.

What's more, this book gives suggestions for how to find answers that are ""good enough"" for tricky tasks like dividing by 17. It includes brand new ways to multiply and divide irrational numbers such as pi, e, the square root of 2, and the golden ratio. It has sections devoted to ancient mathematics, and the techniques we can borrow from previous and other cultures, in order to calculate more quickly. Examples, some serious, some fun, come from everyday life or from history DL like hot dog eating competitions, the Vatican's cricket team, the molecular weight of the molecule with the world's longest name, and the amount of people taken by Henry VIII to arguably history's biggest party, the Field of the Cloth of Gold. In an age of timed multiple-choice questions, the swifter you can sum, or rule out wrong answers, the better you will do. If you love to play with numbers, this book will be recreational reading. And if you ever wonder whether simple arithmetic problems can crop up in everyday life, this book provides a fresh perspective."

By:  
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Edition:   1
Dimensions:   Height: 223mm,  Width: 142mm,  Spine: 15mm
Weight:   364g
ISBN:   9780198852650
ISBN 10:   0198852657
Pages:   176
Publication Date:  
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Trevor Lipscombe graduated with an undergraduate degree in theoretical physics from Queen Mary College, University of London, and then obtained a doctorate in theoretical physics from the University of Oxford. He is the author, with Alice Calaprice, of Albert Einstein: A Biography, and sole author of The Physics of Rugby, which was selected as one of the best ten physics books of 2009. He edited the critical edition of Saint John Henry Newman's novel Loss and Gain. Trevor was a postdoctoral researcher at the Levich Institute at the City College of New York, but has also worked in a homeless shelter, a physics journal, and three university presses. He remains fond of finding ways to present science-related materials simply.

Reviews for Quick(er) Calculations: How to add, subtract, multiply, divide, square, and square root more swiftly

Lipscombe's book is unusual, being, as it is, an expansive view of a small subject. The text he presents here is excellent, and is a model of everything a writer strives for: concision, simplicity, directness, accuracy, and surprise. * Don S. Lemons, Bethel College, Kansas * This book is about very elementary concepts that ought to be read by sophisticated people who appreciate that elementary does not mean trivial. The author's erudite scholarship shines in the prose, along with just the right level of dry wit. It's serious stuff he's writing about (without numbers and arithmetic, our modern world simply vanishes into the ancient past where numbers were limited to none, one, and many), but in such a way that the reader does not slowly nod-off into a coma. * Paul J. Nahin, University of New Hampshire * If you think mental arithmetic is out of date in the 21st century, think again. This engaging book is about insight and interestingness beyond the simple utility of quicker calculations. The general style is original and characterful, and makes the book distinctive. * Prasenjit Saha, University of Zurich *


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