The Mbius Strip Dr August Mbiuss Marvelous Band In Mathematics Games Literature Art Technology And Cosmology Clifford A Pickover by Clifford A. Pickover 9781560258261, 9781560259527, 1560258268, 1560259523 instant download after payment.

In 1824 a young Norwegian named Niels Henrik Abel proved conclusively that algebraic equations of the fifth order are not solvable in radicals. In this book Peter Pesic shows what an important event this was in the history of thought. He also presents it as a remarkable human story. Abel was twenty-one when he self-published his proof, and he died five years later, poor and depressed, just before the proof started to receive wide acclaim. Abel's attempts to reach out to the mathematical elite of the day had been spurned, and he was unable to find a position that would allow him to work in peace and marry his fiancée But Pesic's story begins long before Abel and continues to the present day, for Abel's proof changed how we think about mathematics and its relation to the "real" world. Starting with the Greeks, who invented the idea of mathematical proof, Pesic shows how mathematics found its sources in the real world (the shapes of things, the accounting needs of merchants) and then reached beyond those sources toward something more universal. The Pythagoreans' attempts to deal with irrational numbers foreshadowed the slow emergence of abstract mathematics. Pesic focuses on the contested development of algebra—which even Newton resisted—and the gradual acceptance of the usefulness and perhaps even beauty of abstractions that seem to invoke realities with dimensions outside human experience. Pesic tells this story as a history of ideas, with mathematical details incorporated in boxes. The book also includes a new annotated translation of Abel's original proof Traces the origins of the Möbius strip, a sense-defying continuous loop with only one side and one edge, from the mid-1800s to the present, exploring how it has been used in mathematics, magic, science, art, engineering, literature, and music. Möbius limericks to get you in the mood -- Introduction -- Möbius magicians -- Knots, civilization, autism, and the collapse of sidedness -- A brief history of Möbius the man -- Technology, toys, molecules, and patents -- Strange adventures in topology and beyond -- Cosmos, reality, transcendence -- Games, mazes, art, music, and architecture -- Literature and movies -- A few final words -- Solutions -- References and appendix -- Readings by chapter -- About the author