Once upon a number : the hidden mathematical logic of stories / by John Allen Paulos.
Material type: TextPublication details: New York, NY : Basic Books, c1998Description: 214 p. ; 22 cmISBN: 0465051588 (hc)Subject(s): Mathematical statistics | Logic, Symbolic and mathematicalDDC classification: 519.5 Summary: Once Upon a Number shows that stories and numbers aren’t as different as you might imagine, and in fact, they have surprising and fascinating connections. The concepts of logic and probability both grew out of intuitive ideas about how certain situations would play out. Now, logicians are inventing ways to deal with real-world situations by mathematical means by acknowledging, for instance, that mathematically interchangeable items may not be interchangeable in a story. Complexity theory looks at both number strings and narrative strings in remarkably similar terms. Throughout, renowned author John Paulos mixes numbers and narratives in his own delightful style. This is another winner from America’s favorite mathematician.Item type | Current library | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Books | Namal Library Mathematics | 519.5 PAU-O 1998 6626 (Browse shelf (Opens below)) | Available | 0006626 |
Includes bibliographical references (p. [203]-205) and index.
Once Upon a Number shows that stories and numbers aren’t as different as you might imagine, and in fact, they have surprising and fascinating connections. The concepts of logic and probability both grew out of intuitive ideas about how certain situations would play out. Now, logicians are inventing ways to deal with real-world situations by mathematical means by acknowledging, for instance, that mathematically interchangeable items may not be interchangeable in a story. Complexity theory looks at both number strings and narrative strings in remarkably similar terms. Throughout, renowned author John Paulos mixes numbers and narratives in his own delightful style. This is another winner from America’s favorite mathematician.
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