Ian Stewart

Twelve essays take a playful approach to the subject, exploring how to play poker over the telephone without the possibility of cheating, how to distinguish plausible fallacies from unbelievable facts, and how to cope mathematically with contorted worms, drunken tennis players, and snakes that eat their own tails. Former columnist for Scientific American's "Mathematical Games" section, Ian Stewart is a professor at the University of Warwick and the...

In the course of an exciting experiment, the wizards of Discworld have accidentally created a new universe. Within this universe is a planet that they name Roundworld. Roundworld is, of course, Earth, and the universe is our own. As the wizards watch their creation grow, Terry Pratchett and acclaimed science writers Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen use Discworld to examine science from the outside. Interwoven with the Pratchett's original story are entertaining,...

"Bestselling author Professor Ian Stewart explores the history and mathematics of uncertainty. Touching on gambling, probability, statistics, financial and weather forecasts, censuses, medical studies, chaos, quantum physics, and climate, he makes one thing clear: a reasonable probability is the only certainty." --

"Letters to a Young Mathematician tells readers what Ian Stewart wishes he had known when he was a student. He takes up subjects from the philosophical to the practical - what mathematics is and why it's worth doing, the relationship between logic and proof, the role of beauty in mathematical thinking, the future of mathematics, how to deal with the peculiarities of the mathematical community, and many others - in a style that combines subtle, easygoing...

"An esteemed mathematician shows how math powers the world, from technology to health care and beyond"--

A delightful introduction to the numbers that surround us, from the common (Pi and 2) to the uncommon but no less consequential (1.059463 and 43,252,003,274,489,856,000). Along the way, Stewart takes us through prime numbers, cubic equations, the concept of zero, the possible positions on the Rubik's Cube, the role of numbers in human history, and beyond!

"The first-ever annotated edition of the beloved classic is beautifully illustrated and brilliantly brought to life for a new generation of readers. Published in 1884 by an English clergyman and headmaster, it is a fanciful tale of A. Square, a two-dimensional being visiting a three-dimensional world." --