Martin Erickson – författare

This book is about beautiful mathematical concepts and creations. Mathematical ideas have an aesthetic appeal that can be appreciated by those who have the time and dedication to investigate. Mathematical topics are presented in the categories of words, images, formulas, theorems, proofs, solutions, and unsolved problems. Readers will investigate exciting mathematical topics ranging from complex numbers to arithmetic progressions, from Alcuin's sequence to the zeta function, and from hypercubes to infinity squared. Do you know that a lemniscate curve is the circular inversion of a hyperbola? That Sierpinski's triangle has fractal dimension 1.585....? That a regular septagon can be constructed with straightedge, compass, and an angle trisector? Do you know how to prove Lagrange s theorem that every positive integer is the sum of four squares? Can you find the first three digits of the millionth Fibonacci number? Discover the keys to these and many other mathematical problems. In each case, the mathematics is compelling, elegant, simple, and beautiful. Who should read this book? There is something new for any mathematically-minded person. High school and college students will find motivation for their mathematical studies. Professional mathematicians will find fresh examples of mathematical beauty to pass along to others. Within each chapter, the topics require progressively more prerequisite knowledge. An appendix gives background definitions and theorems, while another gives challenging exercises (with solutions).

A Student‘s Guide to the Study, Practice, and Tools of Modern Mathematics provides an accessible introduction to the world of mathematics. It offers tips on how to study and write mathematics as well as how to use various mathematical tools, from LaTeX and Beamer to Mathematica and Maple to MATLAB and R. Along with a color insert, the text includes exercises and challenges to stimulate creativity and improve problem solving abilities.The first section of the book covers issues pertaining to studying mathematics. The authors explain how to write mathematical proofs and papers, how to perform mathematical research, and how to give mathematical presentations.The second section focuses on the use of mathematical tools for mathematical typesetting, generating data, finding patterns, and much more. The text describes how to compose a LaTeX file, give a presentation using Beamer, create mathematical diagrams, use computer algebra systems, and display ideas on a web page. The authors cover both popular commercial software programs and free and open source software, such as Linux and R.Showing how to use technology to understand mathematics, this guide supports students on their way to becoming professional mathematicians. For beginning mathematics students, it helps them study for tests and write papers. As time progresses, the book aids them in performing advanced activities, such as computer programming, typesetting, and research.

Methods Used to Solve Discrete Math ProblemsInteresting examples highlight the interdisciplinary nature of this area Pearls of Discrete Mathematics presents methods for solving counting problems and other types of problems that involve discrete structures. Through intriguing examples, problems, theorems, and proofs, the book illustrates the relationship of these structures to algebra, geometry, number theory, and combinatorics.Each chapter begins with a mathematical teaser to engage readers and includes a particularly surprising, stunning, elegant, or unusual result. The author covers the upward extension of Pascal‘s triangle, a recurrence relation for powers of Fibonacci numbers, ways to make change for a million dollars, integer triangles, the period of Alcuin‘s sequence, and Rook and Queen paths and the equivalent Nim and Wythoff‘s Nim games. He also examines the probability of a perfect bridge hand, random tournaments, a Fibonacci-like sequence of composite numbers, Shannon‘s theorems of information theory, higher-dimensional tic-tac-toe, animal achievement and avoidance games, and an algorithm for solving Sudoku puzzles and polycube packing problems. Exercises ranging from easy to challenging are found in each chapter while hints and solutions are provided in an appendix.With over twenty-five years of teaching experience, the author takes an organic approach that explores concrete problems, introduces theory, and adds generalizations as needed. He delivers an absorbing treatment of the basic principles of discrete mathematics.

Methods Used to Solve Discrete Math ProblemsInteresting examples highlight the interdisciplinary nature of this areaPearls of Discrete Mathematics presents methods for solving counting problems and other types of problems that involve discrete structures. Through intriguing examples, problems, theorems, and proofs, the book illustrates the relationship of these structures to algebra, geometry, number theory, and combinatorics.Each chapter begins with a mathematical teaser to engage readers and includes a particularly surprising, stunning, elegant, or unusual result. The author covers the upward extension of Pascal’s triangle, a recurrence relation for powers of Fibonacci numbers, ways to make change for a million dollars, integer triangles, the period of Alcuin’s sequence, and Rook and Queen paths and the equivalent Nim and Wythoff’s Nim games. He also examines the probability of a perfect bridge hand, random tournaments, a Fibonacci-like sequence of composite numbers, Shannon’s theorems of information theory, higher-dimensional tic-tac-toe, animal achievement and avoidance games, and an algorithm for solving Sudoku puzzles and polycube packing problems. Exercises ranging from easy to challenging are found in each chapter while hints and solutions are provided in an appendix.With over twenty-five years of teaching experience, the author takes an organic approach that explores concrete problems, introduces theory, and adds generalizations as needed. He delivers an absorbing treatment of the basic principles of discrete mathematics.