Communicating
Mathematics
MATH 4827/5827
Spring 2008
Book Review Project
Required Reading: Select a popular book about mathematics written for the general public. You may choose a book from the following list or find an example of your own, but you must get the instructor's approval of your choice. No two students should pick the same book.
* The Archimedes Codex: How a Medieval Prayer Book Is Revealing the True Genius of Antiquity's Greatest Scientist by Reviel Netz and Wiliam Noel.
Benjamin Franklin's Numbers: An Unsung Mathematical Odyssey by Paul Pasles.
* Coincidences, Chaos, and All That Math Jazz: Making Light of Weighty Ideas by Edward B. Burger and Michael Starbird.
* Count Down: Six Kids Vie for Glory at the World's Toughest Math Competition by Steve Olsen.
Descartes: A Biography by Desmond Clarke.
* e: The Story of a Number by Eli Maor.
* Euclid in the Rainforest: Discovering Universal Truths in Logic and Math by Joseph Mazur.
* Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem by Simon Singh.
* Fermat's Last Theorem: Unlocking the Secret of an Ancient Mathematical Problem by Amir D. Aczel.
* Four Colors Suffice: How the Map Problem Was Solved by Robin Wilson.
* King of Infinite Space: Donald Coxeter, the Man Who Saved Geometry by Siobhan Roberts.
The Man Who Knew Too Much: Alan Turing and the Invention of the Computer by David Leavitt.
* The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdos and the Search for Mathematical Truth by Paul Hoffman.
The Math Gene: How Mathematical Thinking Evolved and Why Numbers are Like Gossip by Keith Devlin.
* The Math Instinct: Why You're a Mathematical Genius (Along Lobsters, Birds, Cats, and Dogs) by Keith Devlin.
Music: A Mathematical Offering by David J. Benson.
* My Brain is Open: The Mathematical Journeys of Paul Erdos by Bruce Schechter.
The Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero by Robert Kaplan.
* Poetry of the Universe: A Mathematical Exploration of the Cosmos by Robert Osserman.
* The Poincare Conjecture: In Search of the Shape of the Universe by Donal O'Shea.
* Randomness by Deborah J. Bennett.
* Shadows of Reality: The Fourth Dimension in Relativity, Cubism, and Modern Thought by Tony Robbin.
* The Square Root of 2: A Dialogue Concerning a Number and a Sequence by David Flannery.
* Symmetry and the Monster: One of the Greatest Quests of Mathematics by Mark Ronan.
* The Triumph of Numbers: How Counting Shaped Modern Life by I.B. Cohen.
* To Infinity and Beyond: A Cultural History of the Infinte by Eli Maor.
* Unknown Quantity: A Real and Imaginary History of Algebra by John Derbyshire.
Why Beauty is Truth: The Story of Symmetry by Ian Stewart.
Selections:
Elizabeth Adkins: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.
Kelechukwu Alu: * The Pythagorean Theorem: A 4000-Year History by Eli Maor.
Katie Bach: * In Code: A Mathematical Journey by Sarah Flannery.
Jeffrey Bonnell: Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter.
Tina Browder: * A Beautiful Math: John Nash, Game Theory, and the Modern Quest for a Code of Nature by Tom Siegfried.
Joe Campbell: A Mathematician at the Ball Park: Odds and Probabilities for Baseball Fans by Ken Ross.
Crystal Dougherty: Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle School Math without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail by Danica McKellar.
Garth Ghearing: Kepler's Witch: An Astronomer's Discovery of Cosmic Order Amid Religious War, Political Intrigue, and the Heresy Trial of His Mother by James A. Connor.
Randetta Fuller: * The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the World's Most Astonishing Number By Mario Livio.
Elizabeth Harris: * A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar.
Brooks Hayes: Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson.
Madeline Hunt: Letters to a Young Mathematician by Ian Stewart.
Kelly Jefferson: * The Numbers behind NUMB3RS: Solving Crime with Mathematics by Keith Devlin and Gary Lorden.
Amanda Phebus: The Man Who Knew Infinity: The Life of the Genius Ramanujan by Robert Kanigel.
Hamilton Scott: The Education of T.C. MITS by Lillian R. Leiber.
Kristin Stone: * From Zero to Infinity: What Makes Numbers Interesting by Constance Reid.
Than Wilson: Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea by Charles Seife.
