Mathematics, the science of patterns : the search for order in life, mind, and the universe / Keith Devlin.
By: Devlin, Keith J
.
Material type: 
BookSeries: Scientific American Library series.Publisher: New York : distributor, New York. Oxford : Scientific American Library, W.H. Freeman. c1994Description: vii, 215 p : ill(some col.) ; 24 cm. + hbk.ISBN: 0716750473 .Subject(s): MathematicsDDC classification: 510.1 | Item type | Current library | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Lending | MTU Bishopstown Library Lending | 510.1 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 00014942 |
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Includes bibliographical references (pages 210-211) and index.
Counting -- Reasoning and communicating -- Motion and change -- Shape -- Symmetry and regularity -- Position.
Reviews provided by Syndetics
CHOICE Review
Devlin's very attractive book is a well-written attempt to explain to educated nonmathematicians what mathematics is, what mathematicians do, and why. Devlin selected several different problems that led to significant mathematical results and gives the history, flavor, and some details of their mathematical development. By necessity and by his own admission, the choice of topics is limited. (For instance, the only applied mathematics is a treatment of calculus; perhaps a choice from the mathematics of computer science or chaos theory would have been valuable.) At a very few points the nontechnically oriented reader may be overwhelmed by the mathematics, but the basic ideas are presented in a clear, concise, and easily understood manner. Devlin's basic thesis (as stated in the title) is supported in each problem. The book is handsomely printed with many pictures, diagrams, and sketches. Highly recommended. All levels. J. H. Ellison; Grove City CollegeAuthor notes provided by Syndetics
Born in England in 1947 and living in America since 1987, Keith Devlin has written more than 20 books and numerous research articles on various elements of mathematics. From 1983 to 1989, he wrote a column on for the Manchester (England) Guardian. The collected columns are published in All the Math That's Fit to Print (1994) and cover a wide range of topics from calculating travel expenses to calculating pi. His book Logic and Information (1991) is an introduction to situation theory and situation semantics for mathematicians.Co-author of the PBS Nova episode "A Mathematical Mystery Tour," he is also the author of Devlin's Angle, a column on the Mathematical Association of America's electronic journal.
Devlin lives in California, where he is dean of the school of science at Saint Mary's College in Morgana. He is currently studying the use of mathematics to analyze communication and information flow in the workplace.
(Bowker Author Biography)