Author

Publication

1998 - Harcourt Brace, New York, New York (State)

Language

English

Word Count

53,500 words, Guess

Page Count

214 pages

Identifiers

and 2 more
  • Goodreads1607887
  • LibraryThing988

Classifications

  • DDC510
  • LCCQA36 .C65 1998

Description

Mathematics is the breathtaking invention of ours that expands the reach of the human mind, puts us in touch with the tiniest particles of physics, and takes us to the outermost reaches of the cosmos. Perhaps because of its power and its abstraction, math scares many people. The Universe and the Teacup is a poetic and passionate book that reveals how the tools of mathematics get us to these fundamental truths and shows us why math need not be intimidating. Using the O. J. Simpson trial and the Lani Guinier affair, the bell curve and Emmy Noether, the nineteenth-century woman scientist whose work was essential for Einstein's Theory of Relativity, Cole shows how mathematics breaks the mind barrier.

First Sentence

Finding out what's true is a central passion of human activity.

Subjects

Other Editions

  • The universe and the teacup: the mathematics of truth and beautyHarcourt Brace1998-01-01
Show 1 more editions

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