HOW MATH EXPLAINS THE WORLD

How Math Explains the World



How Math Explains the World

Outline

1. Introduction

2. Analysis

3. Conclusion

Introduction

I wanted to review James Stein's How Math Explains the World: A Guide to the Power of Numbers, from Car Repair to Modern Physics because I expected it to be a modern source of information about Fermi problems, which I use in my classes. I was looking for something like John Allen Paulos's now rather dated Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences (Vintage, 1990). I was wrong.

Analysis

In fact, how math explains the world, mathematician Stein reveals how seemingly secret mathematical investigations and discoveries have led to greater, more world-shaking insights into the nature of our world. In four major sections of the book, Stein tells the story of the mathematical thinkers who discerned some of the most fundamental aspects of our universe. From their successes and failures, delusions, and even duels, the trajectories of their innovations and their impact on society can be traced in this fascinating narrative. Quantum mechanics, space-time, chaos theory and the development of complex systems, and the impossibility of "perfect" democracy are all here. Stein's book is both mind-bending and practical, as he explains the best way for the seller to plan trips, examines why any thought you might be imbedded in the number p, and, perhaps most importantly-answers one of the modern world the hard questions: why garage can not get your car repaired on time.

Many students, mostly from the liberal arts disciplines, the use of the phrase "do the math" means "to put in numbers, they reserve the longer phrase" do math "for formal reasoning and actually make the evidence. So from that standpoint, the book of Stein is not really about mathematics and the power of numbers to explain the world, instead we are talking about mathematics, on the one hand and an explanation of the physical world, on the other. The problem with books is that these two issues are not synthesized, they are intertwined and appear in separate segments that do not connect mathematics and physics. The author also spends a lot of time and effort on the great mathematicians and physicists, some known to the fruits of their labor. He often tells the famous story, but sometimes adds some interesting new elements that give an indication of the source of achievement or the eccentricities of the people he mentions.I can not easily guess ...