Discover how mathematical sequences abound in our natural world in this definitive exploration of the geography of the cosmos You need not be a philosopher or a botanist, and certainly not a mathematician, to enjoy the bounty of the world around us. But is there some sort of order, a pattern, to the things that we see in the sky, on the ground, at the beach? In A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe, Michael Schneider, an education writer and computer consultant, combines science, philosophy, art, and common sense to reaffirm what the ancients observed: that a consistent language of geometric design underpins every level of the universe, from atoms to galaxies, cucumbers to cathedrals. Schneider also discusses numerical and geometric symbolism through the ages, and concepts such as periodic renewal and resonance. This book is an education in the world and everything we can't see within it. Contains numerous b&w photos and illustrations.

Problems that beset Archimedes, Newton, Euler, Cauchy, Gauss, Monge, Steiner, and other great mathematical minds. Features squaring the circle, pi, and similar problems. No advanced math is required. Includes 100 problems with proofs.

A major aspect of mathematical training and its benefit to society is the ability to use logic to solve problems. The American Mathematics Competitions have been given for more than fifty years to millions of students. This book considers the basic ideas behind the solutions to the majority of these problems, and presents examples and exercises from past exams to illustrate the concepts. Anyone preparing for the Mathematical Olympiads will find many useful ideas here, but people generally interested in logical problem solving should also find the problems and their solutions stimulating. The book can be used either for self-study or as topic-oriented material and samples of problems for practice exams. Useful reading for anyone who enjoys solving mathematical problems, and equally valuable for educators or parents who have children with mathematical interest and ability.

The New Mexico Mathematics Contest for high-school students has been held annually since 1966. Each November, thousands of middle- and high-school students from all over New Mexico converge to battle with elementary but tricky math problems. The 200 highest-scoring students meet for the second round the following February at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque where they listen to a prominent mathematician give a keynote lecture, have lunch, and then get down to round two, an even more challenging set of mathematical mind-twisters. Liong-shin Hahn was charged with the task of creating a new set of problems each year for the New Mexico Mathematics Contest, 1990-1999. In this volume, Hahn has collected the 138 best problems to appear in these contests over the last decades. They range from the simple to the highly challenging--none are trivial. The solutions contain many clever analyses and often display uncommon ingenuity. His questions are always interesting and relevant to teenage contestants. Young people training for competitions will not only learn a great deal of useful mathematics from this book but, and this is much more important, they will take a step toward learning to love mathematics.

A delightful tour of the greatest ideas of math, showing how math intersects with philosophy, science, art, business, current events, and everyday life, by an acclaimed science communicator and regular contributor to the "New York Times."

Mathematical Delights is a collection of 90 short elementary gems from algebra, geometry, combinatorics, and number theory. Ross Honsberger presents us with some surprising results, brilliant ideas, and beautiful arguments in mathematics, written in his wonderfully lucid style. The book is a mathematical entertainment to be read at a leisurely pace. High school mathematics should equip the reader to handle the problems presented in the book. The topics are entirely independent and can be read in any order. A useful set of indices helps the reader locate topics in the text.

Over 300 unusual problems, ranging from easy to difficult, involving equations and inequalities, Diophantine equations, number theory, quadratic equations, logarithms, more. Detailed solutions, as well as brief answers, for all problems are provided.

Ross Honsberger was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1929 and attended the University of Toronto. After more than a decade of teaching mathe matics in Toronto, he took advantage of a sabbatical leave to continue his studies at the University of Waterloo, Canada. He joined its faculty in 1964 in the Department of Combina torics and Optimization, and has been there ever since. Honsberger has published a number of bestselling books with the Mathematical Association of America, including Episodes in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Euclidean Geometry, and From Erdos to Kiev. In Polya's Footsteps is his eighth book published in the Dolciani Mathematical Exposition Series. The study of mathematics is often undertaken with an air of such seriousness that it doesn't always seem to be much fun at the time. However, it is quite amazing how many surprising results and brilliant arguments one is in a position to enjoy with just a high school background. This is a book of miscellaneous delights, presented not in an attempt to instruct but as a harvest of rewards that are due good high school students and, of course, those more advancedtheir teachers, and everyone in the university mathematics community. Admittedly, they take a little concentration, but the price is a bargain for such gems. A half dozen essays are sprinkled among some hundred problems, most of which are the easier problems that have appeared on various national and international olympiads. Many subjects are representedcombinatorics, geometry, number theory, algebra, probability. The sections may be read in any order. The book concludes with twentyfive exercises and their detailed solutions. It is hoped that something to delight will be found in every sectiona surprising result, an intriguing approach, a stroke of ingenuityand that the leisurely pace and generous explanations will make them a pleasure to read. The inspiration for many of the problems came from the Olympiad Corner of Crux Mathematicorum, published by the Canadian Mathematical Society.