# Category Archives: Books

## A matter of perspective

Have you ever watched rugby matches on TV and noticed the advertisements on the field that looked 3-dimensional? I remember having the impression that the adverts were superimposed by the TV people. But when I told the wife, she plainly … Continue reading

Posted in Applications, Books, Geometry/Topology | 1 Comment

## Homework

We have seen textbooks that only gives solutions to odd-numbered exercises. But have you seen a number theory text with the following exercises? 1) Prove that $x^3 + y^3 = z^3$ has no non-trivial solutions in integers. 2) Prove that … Continue reading

## Pi to two million digits

is a book I chanced upon in the library. The book consists, as the title states, of the constant $\pi$ to two million digits in 296 pages. My first reaction was, what is it doing in a university library? I’m … Continue reading

## Applications of number theory

It can get you a job? In Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, the first question the prospective accountant was asked was Name the Fibonacci series from its eleventh to its sixteenth. The accountant answered correctly and after another couple of questions … Continue reading

Posted in Applications, Books, Number Theory | 1 Comment

## Hardcopy vs electronic reprints

One of the little joys in the academic life is when you finally receive the hardcopy reprints of your published paper. I guess it is an antiquated practice dating back before the electronic era. In days of old, when manuscripts … Continue reading

## The man who know Ramanujan

An article from The Hindu about Professor Bruce Berndt. The title of the article is probably a play on the book The man who knew infinity.

## Printed vs E-books

A blog post by Nicolas Carr. I personally belong to the majority who like the convenience of e-books but almost always prefer printed books (and research papers) for reading. I’ve moved to my new office for about a month and … Continue reading

## Manga guide to calculus

by Kojima and Togami (Illustrator). This is a follow up to the well received Manga guide to Statistics, which aims to use japanese manga to teach academic subjects. Having read the book I must say, I enjoyed the back story … Continue reading

## The Calculus of Friendship

by Steven Strogatz. The subtitle is “What a teacher and a student learned about life while corresponding about math” and it very aptly sums up the book. Except there is a twist. It turned out the teacher was a high … Continue reading

## Number Theory by

Pommersheim, Marks and Flapan. The full subtitle of the book is “A Lively Introduction with Proofs, Applications, and Stories.” I have to admit I only browsed through a couple of pages of the book but it already lives up to … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Number Theory | 1 Comment

## A \$23 million dollar book

A very interesting post. http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/?p=358 It is not merely the astronomical price tag but the clever detective work that figured out what lead to the crazy price and is a good example of how algorithms can go wrong. Finally it … Continue reading

## Charles Dodgson

Picked up a copy of Lewis Carroll in Numberland by Robin Wilson from the library. I must admit that I browsed through it instead of reading it, picking up bits and pieces that I find interesting. For example, it is … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Fun Stuff, Linear Algebra, Quotes/People | 1 Comment

## Martin Gardner and that April Fools Joke

Martin Gardner passed away last week on 22 May, aged 95. Wikipedia is a good place to read about his contribution in bringing mathematics to the public. My favourite article of Gardner’s is Six Sensational Discoveries that Somehow or Another … Continue reading

## Concrete Abstract Algebra: From Numbers to Grobner Bases

is a book by Niels Lauritzen that I just checked out. My initial impression is that it is well written and contains many interesting gems. It certainly looked like a good book to teach from, although the topics covered are … Continue reading

## What’s in a name …

while a rose by any other name may smell as sweet, a mathematician might just be discriminated by his/her name. The perceived ability of a mathematician (as well as most academics) is by publications. There are two norms in listing … Continue reading

Posted in Books, General, Statistics | 1 Comment

## Book: Modular Forms

A classical and computational introduction is a new book by L.J.P. Kilford. New enough that it even has reference to the resolution of Serre’s conjecture. But this book is really an introduction to the classical aspects of the theory of … Continue reading

## The Housekeeper and the Professor

by Yoko Ogawa. I remember watching half a movie on a plane which was called “The Gift of Numbers” (Hakase No Aishita Sushiki) and was based on the 2004 Japanese novel by Ogawa. Since then, I place the book in … Continue reading

## Princeton University Press

I’ve recently came across several good books that are recently published by PUP and I’m further impressed by that fact that their books are usually cheaper than Springer and significantly cheaper than Oxford. I really liked the Fourier Analysis and … Continue reading