Mapmatics : A Mathematician's Guide to Navigating the World

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ISBN 10: 0674294238 / ISBN 13: 9780674294233

Published by Harvard University Press Sep 2024, 2024

About this Item

Neuware - Mathematician Paulina Rowi¿ska leads us across the globe to discover the myriad connections between math and maps, and how they've shaped not just our sense of space but our worldview.

Seller Inventory # 9780674294233

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Mapmatics : A Mathematician's Guide to Navigating the World
• Publisher: Harvard University Press Sep 2024
• Publication Date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674294238
• ISBN 13: 9780674294233
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 235W x 159H x 32D millimeters 235 millimeters width by 159 millimeters height by 32 millimeters depth
• Weight: 636 grams

About this title

Synopsis

“I love maps. I love math. And gosh, do I love this book, which so beautifully and clearly sounds the depths of both.” ―Ben Orlin, author of Math with Bad Drawings

Explore the surprising connections between math and maps―and the myriad ways they’ve shaped our world and us.

Why are coastlines and borders so difficult to measure? How does a UPS driver deliver hundreds of packages in a single day? And where do elusive serial killers hide? The answers lie in the crucial connection between maps and math.

In Mapmatics, mathematician Paulina Rowińska leads us on a riveting journey around the globe to discover how maps and math are deeply entwined, and always have been. From a sixteenth-century map, an indispensable navigation tool that exaggerates the size of northern countries, to public transport maps that both guide and confound passengers, to congressional maps that can empower or silence whole communities, she reveals how maps and math have shaped not only our sense of space but our worldview. In her hands, we learn how to read maps like a mathematician―to extract richer information and, just as importantly, to question our conclusions by asking what we don’t see.

Written with authority and compassion, wit and unforgettable storytelling, this is math exposition at its best. By unpacking the math behind the maps we depend on, Mapmatics illuminates how our world works and, ultimately, how we can better look after it.

About the Author

Paulina Rowińska is an award-winning science writer and journalist who has written for Smithsonian magazine, Quanta Magazine, Undark, and other outlets. She holds a PhD in mathematics from Imperial College London.