Nonplussed!: Mathematical Proof of Implausible Ideas

Havil, Julian

ISBN 10: 0691120560 / ISBN 13: 9780691120560

Published by Princeton University Press, 2007

About this Item

First edition, first printing with full number line. A fine copy in a fine mylar protected DJ. There is an owner blind embossed stamp on free endpaper but otherwise as new. See my photos of this book, more available upon request. This book is in my possession and will be packed in bubble wrap and ship securely packed in a cardboard box. #130.

Seller Inventory # 007166

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Nonplussed!: Mathematical Proof of Implausible Ideas
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691120560
• ISBN 13: 9780691120560
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

About this title

Synopsis

Math―the application of reasonable logic to reasonable assumptions―usually produces reasonable results. But sometimes math generates astonishing paradoxes―conclusions that seem completely unreasonable or just plain impossible but that are nevertheless demonstrably true. Did you know that a losing sports team can become a winning one by adding worse players than its opponents? Or that the thirteenth of the month is more likely to be a Friday than any other day? Or that cones can roll unaided uphill? In Nonplussed!―a delightfully eclectic collection of paradoxes from many different areas of math―popular-math writer Julian Havil reveals the math that shows the truth of these and many other unbelievable ideas.

Nonplussed! pays special attention to problems from probability and statistics, areas where intuition can easily be wrong. These problems include the vagaries of tennis scoring, what can be deduced from tossing a needle, and disadvantageous games that form winning combinations. Other chapters address everything from the historically important Torricelli's Trumpet to the mind-warping implications of objects that live on high dimensions. Readers learn about the colorful history and people associated with many of these problems in addition to their mathematical proofs.

Nonplussed! will appeal to anyone with a calculus background who enjoys popular math books or puzzles.

About the Author

Julian Havil is a former Master at Winchester College, England, where he taught mathematics for more than thirty years. He is the author of Gamma: Exploring Euler's Constant and Impossible?: Surprising Solutions to Counterintuitive Conundrums (both Princeton).