Mathematics: The Science of Patterns: The Search for Order in Life, Mind and the Universe

Devlin, Keith

ISBN 10: 0805073442 / ISBN 13: 9780805073447

Published by Henry Holt, 2003

About this Item

Seller Inventory # BSM.18KMK

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Mathematics: The Science of Patterns: The Search for Order in Life, Mind and the Universe
• Publisher: Henry Holt
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805073442
• ISBN 13: 9780805073447
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: very_good

About this title

Synopsis

To most people, mathematics means working with numbers. But as Keith Devlin shows in Mathematics: The Science of Patterns, this definition has been out of date for nearly 2,500 years. Mathematicians now see their work as the study of patterns—real or imagined, visual or mental, arising from the natural world or from within the human mind.

Using this basic definition as his central theme, Devlin explores the patterns of counting, measuring, reasoning, motion, shape, position, and prediction, revealing the powerful influence mathematics has over our perception of reality. Interweaving historical highlights and current developments, and using a minimum of formulas, Devlin celebrates the precision, purity, and elegance of mathematics.

About the Author

Keith Devlin is Dean of the School of Science at Saint Mary's College of California and Senior Researcher at Stanford University's Center for the Study of Language and Information. He is the author of Logic and Information, and Mathematics: The New Golden Age and Goodbye, Descartes.