Weird Math

This frolic on the wilder shores of mathematics aims to bolt the way-out to the day-to-day. It succeeds. --Nature Readers seeking nifty facts to wow others won't be disappointed.... Even the number challenged will emerge with a stronger appreciation of math. --Booklist A miscellany of fun oddities, ranging from chess-playing computers to prime-counting insects. --Spectator (UK) [Darling and Banerjee] offer some beguiling insights on what math is about and how it has evolved. --Kirkus Reviews [An] enjoyable, wide-ranging volume of essays on such diverse mathematical topics as computing, music theory, prime numbers, and paradoxes. Even math-averse readers should find something to pique their interest here. --Publishers Weekly In this inspired collaboration, a young math prodigy teams up with a popular science writer to present a fresh view of the world of mathematics. Together they fearlessly tackle some of the most weird and wonderful topics in mathematics today, rightly believing that 'if you can't explain something in plain language then you don't properly understand it.' Clearly, they understand it. --John Stillwell, Professor of Mathematics, University of San Francisco, and author of Elements of Mathematics Darling and Banerjee take us on a captivating ride through a vast landscape of mathematics, touching on mesmerising topics that include randomness, higher dimensions, alien music, chess, chaos, prime numbers, cicadas, infinity, and more. Read this book and soar. --Clifford A. Pickover, author of The Math Book: From Pythagoras to the 57th Dimension A glorious trip through some of the wilder regions of the mathematical landscape, explaining why they are important and useful, but mostly reveling in the sheer joy of the unexpected. Highly recommended! --Ian Stewart, author of Significant Figures