Ebook: Mathematical Reflections: In a Room with Many Mirrors

Focusing Your Attention The purpose of this book is Cat least) twofold. First, we want to show you what mathematics is, what it is about, and how it is done-by those who do it successfully. We are, in fact, trying to give effect to what we call, in Section 9.3, our basic principle of mathematical instruction, asserting that "mathematics must be taught so that students comprehend how and why mathematics is qone by those who do it successfully./I However, our second purpose is quite as important. We want to attract you-and, through you, future readers-to mathematics. There is general agreement in the (so-called) civilized world that mathematics is important, but only a very small minority of those who make contact with mathematics in their early education would describe it as delightful. We want to correct the false impression of mathematics as a combination of skill and drudgery, and to re­ inforce for our readers a picture of mathematics as an exciting, stimulating and engrossing activity; as a world of accessible ideas rather than a world of incomprehensible techniques; as an area of continued interest and investigation and not a set of procedures set in stone.

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The purpose of this book is to show what mathematics is about, how it is done, and what it is good for. The relaxed and informal presentation conveys the joy of mathematical discovery and insight and makes it clear that mathematics can be an exciting and engrossing activity. Frequent questions lead the reader to see mathematics as an accessible world of thought, where understanding can turn opaque formulae into beautiful and meaningful ideas. The text presents eight topics that serve to illustrate the unity of mathematical thought as well as the diversity of mathematical ideas. Drawn from both "pure" and "applied" mathematics, they include: spirals in nature and in mathematics; the modern topic of fractals and the ancient topic of Fibonacci numbers; Pascal's Triangle and paper folding -- two topics where geometry, number theory, and algebra meet and interact; modular arithmetic and the arithmetic of the infinite. The final chapter presents some ideas about how mathematics should be done, and hence, how it should be taught; these ideas are referred to throughout the text, whenever mathematical strategy and technique are at issue. Presenting many recent discoveries that lead to interesting open questions, the book can serve as the main text in courses dealing with contemporary mathematical topics (for mathematics students or for prospective or in-service mathematics teachers) or as enrichment for other courses. It can also be read with pleasure on its own by anyone interested in the intellectually intriguing aspects of mathematics.

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The purpose of this book is to show what mathematics is about, how it is done, and what it is good for. The relaxed and informal presentation conveys the joy of mathematical discovery and insight and makes it clear that mathematics can be an exciting and engrossing activity. Frequent questions lead the reader to see mathematics as an accessible world of thought, where understanding can turn opaque formulae into beautiful and meaningful ideas. The text presents eight topics that serve to illustrate the unity of mathematical thought as well as the diversity of mathematical ideas. Drawn from both "pure" and "applied" mathematics, they include: spirals in nature and in mathematics; the modern topic of fractals and the ancient topic of Fibonacci numbers; Pascal's Triangle and paper folding -- two topics where geometry, number theory, and algebra meet and interact; modular arithmetic and the arithmetic of the infinite. The final chapter presents some ideas about how mathematics should be done, and hence, how it should be taught; these ideas are referred to throughout the text, whenever mathematical strategy and technique are at issue. Presenting many recent discoveries that lead to interesting open questions, the book can serve as the main text in courses dealing with contemporary mathematical topics (for mathematics students or for prospective or in-service mathematics teachers) or as enrichment for other courses. It can also be read with pleasure on its own by anyone interested in the intellectually intriguing aspects of mathematics.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xvi
Going Down the Drain....Pages 1-24
A Far Nicer Arithmetic....Pages 25-60
Fibonacci and Lucas Numbers....Pages 61-86
Paper-Folding and Number Theory....Pages 87-142
Quilts and Other Real-World Decorative Geometry....Pages 143-184
Pascal, Euler,Triangles,Windmills,.......Pages 185-248
Hair and Beyond....Pages 249-276
An Introduction to the Mathematics of Fractal Geometry....Pages 277-322
Some of Our Own Reflections....Pages 323-338
Back Matter....Pages 339-352

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The purpose of this book is to show what mathematics is about, how it is done, and what it is good for. The relaxed and informal presentation conveys the joy of mathematical discovery and insight and makes it clear that mathematics can be an exciting and engrossing activity. Frequent questions lead the reader to see mathematics as an accessible world of thought, where understanding can turn opaque formulae into beautiful and meaningful ideas. The text presents eight topics that serve to illustrate the unity of mathematical thought as well as the diversity of mathematical ideas. Drawn from both "pure" and "applied" mathematics, they include: spirals in nature and in mathematics; the modern topic of fractals and the ancient topic of Fibonacci numbers; Pascal's Triangle and paper folding -- two topics where geometry, number theory, and algebra meet and interact; modular arithmetic and the arithmetic of the infinite. The final chapter presents some ideas about how mathematics should be done, and hence, how it should be taught; these ideas are referred to throughout the text, whenever mathematical strategy and technique are at issue. Presenting many recent discoveries that lead to interesting open questions, the book can serve as the main text in courses dealing with contemporary mathematical topics (for mathematics students or for prospective or in-service mathematics teachers) or as enrichment for other courses. It can also be read with pleasure on its own by anyone interested in the intellectually intriguing aspects of mathematics.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xvi
Going Down the Drain....Pages 1-24
A Far Nicer Arithmetic....Pages 25-60
Fibonacci and Lucas Numbers....Pages 61-86
Paper-Folding and Number Theory....Pages 87-142
Quilts and Other Real-World Decorative Geometry....Pages 143-184
Pascal, Euler,Triangles,Windmills,.......Pages 185-248
Hair and Beyond....Pages 249-276
An Introduction to the Mathematics of Fractal Geometry....Pages 277-322
Some of Our Own Reflections....Pages 323-338
Back Matter....Pages 339-352
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