The Education of T.C. Mits: What modern mathematics means to you - Softcover

Lieber, Lillian R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1589880331 ISBN 13: 9781589880337

Publisher: Paul Dry Books, 2008

Synopsis

"A delightful book."—New York Times

"I have studied with pleasure [this] new book...Beautiful examples...Illuminating. I am convinced that [Lieber's] original enterprise will get the recognition it so richly deserves."—Albert Einstein

"The Liebers have written an ingenious, entertaining, and illuminating book."—Saturday Review of Literature

"The book should be 'required reading' especially for non-mathematicians."—E.T. Bell, author of The Development of Mathematics

First published in 1942, this whimsical exploration of how to think in a mathematical mood continues to delight math-lovers of all ages.

Do you know that two times two is not always four; that the sum of the angles in a triangle does not always equal 180°; that sometimes it is possible to draw two parallel lines through the same point? InThe Education of T. C. MITS, Lillian Lieber opens the door to the wonder of mathematical thinking and its application to everyday life. Lieber uses simple language and fanciful illustrations drawn by her husband, Hugh, to present fundamental mathematical concepts with a deft touch.

The new foreword by Harvard University mathematics professor Barry Mazur is a tribute to the Liebers' influence on generations of mathematicians.

Lillian Lieber was the head of the Department of Mathematics at Long Island University. She wrote a series of lighthearted (and well-respected) math books in the 1940s, including The Einstein Theory of Relativity, Infinity, and Mits, Wits & Logic.

Hugh Gray Lieber was the head of the Department of Fine Arts at Long Island University. He illustrated many books written by his wife Lillian.

Barry Mazur Barry Mazur is a mathematician and is the Gerhard Gade University Professor at Harvard University. He is the author of Imagining Numbers (particularly the square root of minus fifteen). He has won numerous honors in his field, including the Veblen Prize, Cole Prize, Steele Prize, and Chauvenet Prize.

About this title

About the Author

Lillian R. Lieber was Professor and Head of the Department of Mathematics at Long Island University. She wrote a series of light-hearted (and well-respected) math books, many of them illustrated by her husband. Hugh Gray Lieber was Professor and Head of the Department of Fine Arts at Long Island University. Barry Mazur does his mathematics at Harvard University and lives in Cambridge, Massachussetts, with the writer Grace Dane Mazur. He is the author of Imagining Numbers (Particularly the Square Root of Minus Fifteen) (FSG, 2003). He has won numerous prizes in his field, including the Veblen Prize, Cole Prize, Steele Prize, and Chauvenet Prize.

From Publishers Weekly

First published in 1942 for distribution to American soldiers in WWII, this volume makes a fascinating bit of social history, but a reprint of dubious worth. An acronym for The Celebrated Man In The Street, T.C. Mits is very much a product of his time, an early experiment in the personalized style of mass communication which has become the norm. Like many Americans who fought in the war, everyman Mits has a limited education and little knowledge of the world beyond his home; this book offers him a series of short lessons in mathematical logic and its social utility: "The value of Science and Mathematics is not limited to the gadgets which they give us, but is also in their philosophy." In each lesson, a mathematical example or proof is described, whimsically illustrated (occasionally in proper mathematical graphs), and then extended to non-mathematical matters; e.g., an amusing jaunt through Einsteinian relativity results in this "Moral": "Adapt yourself to a continually CHANGING world." The light-hearted lessons and corny line drawings are charming, to be sure, but numerous "Why We Fight" asides railing against Hitler and totalitarianism make it more than a little dated, and its condescending tone can grate; as described by Barry Mazer in the foreword, it's "funny" and "a bit exasperating," like "a loving, elderly aunt and uncle."
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Edition details

• Publisher: Paul Dry Books
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1589880331
• ISBN 13: 9781589880337
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 230
• Illustrator: Lieber Hugh Gray