Reaching for the Extreme: How the Quest for the Biggest, Fewest and Weirdest Makes Maths

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Professor Ian Stewart

Reaching for the Extreme

Name: Reaching for the Extreme
Price: 49.99 AUD
Availability: PreOrder
ISBN: 9781805221593

How the Quest for the Biggest, Fewest and Weirdest Makes Maths

Professor Ian Stewart

$49.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
Pre-Order now

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English

Profile
19 May 2026

Mathematics & Sciences; Popular science

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF PROFESSOR STEWART'S CABINET OF MATHEMATICAL CURIOSITIES 'Britain's most brilliant and prolific populariser of maths' ALEX BELLOSWhat is the maximum land you can enclose inside a given border?

What is the minimum number of colours you can use to colour in a map so that no region shares a shade?

And how do you calculate the shortest route between two cities?

These questions may not sound related, but they have this in common: they all explore extremes: shortest lines, greatest areas, fewest colours. They have also given rise to some of the most important areas of mathematical study and have resulted in a myriad of applications - from the legend of Dido's founding of the city of Carthage to contemporary satellite navigation systems. From soap bubbles to the cosmos, Britain's most beloved mathematician tells the fascinating stories of the people and ideas pushing the very bounds of mathematics - and the discoveries that have changed our lives.

By: Professor Ian Stewart
Imprint: Profile
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: Main
Dimensions: Height: 236mm, Width: 154mm, Spine: 34mm
Weight: 557g
ISBN: 9781805221593
ISBN 10: 1805221590
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 19 May 2026
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , General/trade , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Ian Stewart is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the University of Warwick. He is the author of the bestseller Professor Stewart's Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities, as well as What's the Use?, Do Dice Play God?, Significant Figures, Incredible Numbers, Seventeen Equations that Changed the World, Professor Stewart's Casebook of Mathematical Mysteries and Calculating the Cosmos. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Reviews for Reaching for the Extreme: How the Quest for the Biggest, Fewest and Weirdest Makes Maths

A superlative survey of superlatives...Stewart's latest tome is fascinating and written in his characteristically brilliant expository style -- Alex Bellos * Guardian * Goes to the edges of mathematics * New Scientist * PRAISE FOR IAN STEWART: 'Stewart has a genius for explanation * New Scientist * A testament to the versatility of maths and how it is shaping our understanding of the world * Guardian * Ian Stewart shows us how maths makes the world - and the rest of the universe - go round -- Professor Steven Strogatz, Cornell University