Exploring the World of Mathematics : From Ancient Record Keeping to the Latest Advances in Computers

Numbers surround us. Just try to make it through a day without using any. It’s impossible: telephone numbers, calendars, volume settings, shoe sizes, speed limits, weights, street numbers, microwave timers, TV channels, and the list goes on and on. The many advancements and branches of mathematics were developed through the centuries as people encountered problems and relied upon math to solve them. For instance:

• What timely invention was tampered with by the Caesars and almost perfected by a pope?
• Why did ten days vanish in September of 1752?
• How did Queen Victoria shorten the Sunday sermons at chapel?
• What important invention caused the world to be divided into time zones?
• What simple math problem caused the Mars Climate Orbiter to burn up in the Martian atmosphere?
• What common unit of measurement was originally based on the distance from the equator to the North Pole?
• Does water always boil at 212° Fahrenheit?
• What do Da Vinci’s Last Supper and the Parthenon have in common?
• Why is a computer glitch called a “bug”?

It’s amazing how ten simple digits can be used in an endless number of ways to benefit man. The development of these ten digits and their many uses is the fascinating story you hold in your hands: Exploring the World of Mathematics.

John Hudson Tiner received five National Science Foundation teaching fellowships during his 12 years of teaching science and mathematics. He is a graduate of chemistry at the College of the Holy Cross (Massachusetts), graduate of astronomy at Sam Houston State University (Texas), and a graduate of mathematics at Duke University (NC). He also worked as a mathematician and cartographer for the Defense Mapping Agency, Aerospace Center (St. Louis). <P> Today, Tiner is a full-time writer. His popular non-fiction books tell their stories through the lives of people who left the world in a better condition than they found it. He says, “After the research is finished, a wonderful moment occurs when the story takes over and the characters come alive. No longer am I a writer, but a time traveler who stands unobserved in the shadows and reports the events as they occur.” <P> He has received numerous honors for his writing, including the Missouri Writer’s Guild award for best juvenile book for Exploring the World of Chemistry, which was also published by Master Books.