MARC Record from marc_columbia

LEADER: 03504mam a2200373 a 4500
001 1717172
005 20220608220419.0
008 970205t19971997nyua b 001 0 eng d
010 $a 94011366
020 $a0716750473
020 $a0716760223 (pbk) 19.95
035 $a(OCoLC)ocm36329847
035 $9ALC1763CU
035 $a(NNC)1717172
035 $a1717172
040 $aLPU$cLPU$dZHM$dOrLoB-B
100 1 $aDevlin, Keith J.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79082239
245 10 $aMathematics, the science of patterns :$bthe search for order in life, mind, and the universe /$cKeith Devlin.
260 $aNew York :$bScientific American Library :$bDistributed by W.H. Freeman and Co.,$c[1997], ©1997.
300 $avii, 216 pages :$billustrations (some color) ;$c24 cm.
336 $atext$btxt$2rdacontent
337 $aunmediated$bn$2rdamedia
490 1 $aScientific American Library series ;$vno. 52
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 211-212) and index.
520 $aWith this fascinating volume, Keith Devlin proves that the guiding principles of some of the most mysterious mathematical topics can be made comprehensible. Writing with an elegant lucidity, Devlin shows just why the definition of mathematics as "working with numbers" has been out of date for nearly 2,500 years. And he demonstrates that far from being too abstract to matter, mathematics is instead an essential and uniquely human endeavor, one that helps us understand the universe and ourselves.
520 8 $aIn this century alone, there has been a veritable explosion of mathematical activity. A body of knowledge that in 1900 might have filled 80 volumes now would require nearly 100,000. Fields such as algebra and topology have grown tremendously, while complexity theory, dynamical systems theory, and other new areas have developed.
520 8 $aAnd in the last two decades, a common thread running through the many facets of mathematics has been recognized: mathematicians of all kinds now see their work as the study of patterns - real or imagined, visual or mental, arising from the natural world or from within the human mind.
520 8 $aDevlin uses this basic definition as his central theme, revealing the search for patterns that drives the mathematics of counting (natural numbers), reasoning (language and logic), motion (calculus), shape (geometry, tilings), and position (topology, knots, symmetry). Interweaving historical highlights and current developments, and using a minimum of formulas, he lets readers see into the kind of reasoning that allows mathematicians to create and explore arcane subjects.
520 8 $aAnd he makes clear the many ways mathematics informs our perceptions of reality - both the physical, biological, and social worlds without, and the realm of ideas and thoughts within.
520 8 $a"Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty," the noted philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell once wrote. In Mathematics: The Science of Patterns, Keith Devlin makes such a vision accessible, entertaining, and meaningful. It is an insightful, richly illustrated celebration of the simplicity, the precision, the purity, and the elegance of mathematics.
650 0 $aMathematics.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85082139
830 0 $aScientific American Library series ;$vno. 52.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n84736054
852 80 $bmat$hIn Process
852 00 $bmat$hQA36$i.D48 1997g