Underwood Dudley – författare

Minimal prerequisites make this text ideal for a first course in number theory. Written in a lively, engaging style by the author of popular mathematics books, it features nearly 1,000 imaginative exercises and problems. Solutions to many of the problems are included, and a teacher's guide is available. 1978 edition.

This is a collection of gems from the literature of mathematics that shine as brightly today as when they first appeared in print. They deserve to be seen and admired. The selections include two opposing views on the purpose of mathematics, The Strong Law of Small Numbers, the treatment of calculus in the 1771 Encyclopaedia Britannica, several proofs that the number of legs on a horse is infinite, a deserved refutation of the ridiculous Euler-Diderot anecdote, the real story of pi and the Indiana Legislature, the reason why Theodorus stopped proving that square roots were irrational when he got to the square root of 17, an excerpt from Mathematics Made Difficult; a glimpse into the mind of a calculating prodigy.There will be something of interest here for almost anyone interested in mathematics. Underwood Dudley is the bestselling author of several MAA books: Mathematical Cranks, Numerology, and the Trisectors. He has an Erdos number of 1.

It is impossible to trisect angles with straightedge and compass alone, but many people try and think they have succeeded. This book is about angle trisections and the people who attempt them. Its purposes are to collect many trisections in one place, inform about trisectors, to amuse the reader, and, perhaps most importantly, to reduce the number of trisectors. This book includes detailed information about the personalities of trisectors and their constructions. It can be read by anyone who has taken a high school geometry course.

Für viele Menschen besitzen die Zahlen eine Bedeutung, die über den Zahlenwert hinausgeht, sie haben eine innere Natur und einen magischen Charakter.