Julian HavilReseñas
Autor de Gamma: Exploring Euler's Constant
6 Obras 690 Miembros 6 Reseñas 1 Preferidas
Reseñas
The Irrationals: A Story of the Numbers You Can't… por Julian Havil
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fpagan | Apr 9, 2013 | Havil is a delightful mathematician (author of "Gamma") who revels in the wonders of 18th century mathematics, and shares these with his readers in lively prose, and full algebraic derivations. He has done it again, combining newer results (Don E KNuth Elevator problem, Besicovitch set) with old ones (probability of a run of a certain length in digits in a random sequence) and a clever parlor/classroom trick based on that.
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sthitha_pragjna | Jul 19, 2011 | The constant γ (called the Euler, or the Euler-Mascheroni) constant plays a significant role in Number Theory. Being, like π or e, one of the ubiquitous mathematical constants, it is, still today, remarkably less well known than its famous counterparts: this lack of knowledge is ilustrated by the fact that no one knows if γ is either a rational or a irrational! This nice popular science book tells the story of γ (if one may say so...) starting with John Napier's celebrated work on logarithms, then going on to discuss the harmonic series (starting with the celebrated proof of its divergence by Nicholas Oresme, c.a. 1350), and the Zeta function, the Gamma function, and the definition of γ. It the proceeds with a digression about some properties of γ, unexpected relations of the harmonic series and the logarithm function to problems in other areas (such as the optimal choice problem, and Benford's law), and concluding with two chapters about the distribution of primes and the work of Riemann (including his famous hypothesis.) Overall, this is a very interesting book that offers a relaxed exploration of a number of important mathematical issues in an enjoyable style.
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FPdC | 2 reseñas más. | May 25, 2010 | Real proofs of a selection of nonintuitive, college-level, recreational math results, half of them involving probability. Not a fat book, but digesting every equation would make for a long reading time.
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fpagan | Dec 26, 2007 | Pickover's _Calculus and Pizza_ doesn't teach anywhere near enough calculus to be able to fully read this book, let me tell you. Euler's constant is the limit, as N approaches infinity, of 1 + 1/2 + 1/3 + ... + 1/N - ln N (approximately 0.5772156).
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fpagan | 2 reseñas más. | Nov 25, 2006 | The most brilliant technical math book I have enjoyed in years. A labor of love by a teacher/mathematician. I learnt a lot about Gamma.
Did you know that the chances of two randomly picked integers being co-prime is 1:pi squared divided by six ? Just one of the charming side results using "elementary methods". Go on and delve into the history and the application by Euler, and others into this weird constant that keeps popping up in unnatural physical settings and mathematical ones, including the Riemann conjecture.
Did you know that the chances of two randomly picked integers being co-prime is 1:pi squared divided by six ? Just one of the charming side results using "elementary methods". Go on and delve into the history and the application by Euler, and others into this weird constant that keeps popping up in unnatural physical settings and mathematical ones, including the Riemann conjecture.
Denunciada
sthitha_pragjna | 2 reseñas más. | Jun 16, 2006 | Este sitio utiliza cookies para ofrecer nuestros servicios, mejorar el rendimiento, análisis y (si no estás registrado) publicidad. Al usar LibraryThing reconoces que has leído y comprendido nuestros términos de servicio y política de privacidad. El uso del sitio y de los servicios está sujeto a estas políticas y términos.