The New York Times Book of Mathematics: More than 100 Years of Writing by the Numbers

Science writer and reporter Kolata (Rethinking Thin) has compiled article reprints in a demonstration of the multiple personalities of mathematics. From party conversation fodder to the esoteric, topics and authors appear and reappear all in the articulate, clever voice that can be expected from the New York Times. Articles both brief and extended are divided into broad categories of general mathematics; statistics and coincidences; famous problems throughout mathematical history; chaos and randomness; cryptography; computers in mathematics; and mathematicians themselves. Readers might recognize contributors such as James Gleick, Malcolm Browne, David Cay Johnston, Paul Hoffman, and John Tierney, among many others. Readers will find answers to such varied questions as: How can chaos theory be applied to the stock market? Does the evidence support weather as a cause of arthritis pain? How solid is the conjecture of environmental toxins as a cause of disease clusters? Many fascinating problems are explained in language that the layperson will understand, without relying on equations; those with more than a passing interest in mathematics will find many topics of interest worthy of further reading. This compilation of real-world applications will interest those with an inclination toward mathematics or problem-solving. (Apr.)