Coincidences, Chaos, and All That Math Jazz: Making Light of Weighty Ideas

“A profusely illustrated, bemusingly unorthodox introduction to math.”―Booklist

A book for the eternally curious, Coincidences fuses a professor’s understanding of the hidden mathematical skeleton of the universe with the sensibility of a stand-up comedian, making life’s big questions accessible and compelling. Each chapter opens with a surprising insight―not a mathematic formula, but a common observation. From there, the authors leapfrog over math and anecdote toward profound ideas about nature, art, and music. Coincidences is a book for lovers of puzzles and posers of outlandish questions, lapsed math aficionados and the formula-phobic alike.

Edward B. Burger is professor of mathematics and chair at Williams College. He has won several prestigious teaching and writing awards from the Mathematical Association of America. He lives in Massachusetts.

Michael Starbird is a University Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin and is a member of UT’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers. He lives in Texas.