Volume: 7; 2009; 127 pp; Softcover
MSC: Primary 00;
Print ISBN: 978-0-8218-4478-6
Product Code: HAPPENING/7
List Price: $23.00
AMS Member Price: $18.40
MAA Member Price: $20.70
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What’s Happening in the Mathematical Sciences, Volume 7
Share this pageDana Mackenzie
Since 1993, the AMS has been publishing What's Happening in the
Mathematical Sciences, a series of lively and highly readable
accounts of the latest developments in mathematics. This seventh
volume describes some genuine surprises, such as the recent discovery
that coin tosses are inherently unfair; a mathematical theory of
invisibility that was soon followed by the creation of a prototype
“invisibility cloak”; and an ultra-efficient approach to
image sensing that led to the development of a single-pixel
camera.
The past few years have also seen deep results on some classical
mathematics problems. For example, this volume describes a proof of
the Sato–Tate Conjecture in number theory and a major advance in
the Minimal Model Program of algebraic geometry. The computation of
the character table of the exceptional Lie group \(E_8\) brings
“the most beautiful structure in mathematics” to public
attention, and proves that human persistence is just as important as
gigabytes of RAM. The amazing story of the Archimedes Palimpsest shows
how the modern tools of high-energy physics uncovered the
centuries-old secrets of the mathematical writings of Archimedes.
Dana Mackenzie, a science writer specializing in mathematics, makes
each of these topics accessible to all readers, with a style that is
friendly and at the same time attentive to the nuances that make
mathematics fascinating. Anyone with an interest in mathematics, from
high school teachers and college students to engineers and computer
scientists, will find something of interest here. The stories are
well told and the mathematics is compelling.
Praise for Earlier Volumes:
One can say without overstatement that the standards in these volumes are very high indeed.
The articles are very well written, and usually include quotes from the mathematicians who were involved in the work in question, giving the whole thing a more “human” feel. This book offers professionals a way to keep abreast of what's going on in the field and also gives us a way to share with our students and colleagues some of the excitement of doing mathematics. Don't miss it.
—MAA Online
…an excellent series transferring contemporary mathematical research in a delightful and exact manner to both non-mathematicians and mathematicians.
The mixture of hot topics and profiles of outstanding mathematicians proves a good choice. …Hopefully it will reach teachers and educators in order to make mathematics more visible and perhaps a bit more understandable to the general public.
—Zentralblatt MATH
Readership
General mathematical audience.
Reviews & Endorsements
The goal of the series is to shed light on topics on the leading edge of mathematical research in a way that is accessible to the mathematical layperson. The articles frequently combine mathematics with physics, and are written in a lively style that should be accessible to anyone with genuine interest and some college-level experience in mathematics and science.
-- Choice
Table of Contents
What's Happening in the Mathematical Sciences, Volume 7