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Nonplussed! : mathematical proof of implausible ideas / Julian Havil.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 2010.Description: 1 online resource (xiii, 196 pages)Content type:
  • text
Media type:
  • computer
Carrier type:
  • online resource
ISBN:
  • 9781400837380
  • 1400837383
  • 9786612722004
  • 6612722002
  • 0691120560
  • 9780691120560
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Additional physical formats: Print version:: Nonplussed!DDC classification:
  • 510 22
LOC classification:
  • QA99 .H38 2010eb
Online resources:
Contents:
Cover; Title Page; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; Preface; Acknowledgements; Introduction; CHAPTER 1 Three Tennis Paradoxes; CHAPTER 2 The Uphill Roller; CHAPTER 3 The Birthday Paradox; CHAPTER 4 The spin of a Table; CHAPTER 5 Derangements; CHAPTER 6 Conway's Chequerboard Army; CHAPTER 7 The Toss of a Needle; CHAPTER 8 Torricell's Trumpet; CHAPTER 9 Nontransitive Effects; CHAPTER 10 A Pursuit Problem; CHAPTER 11 Parrondo's Games; CHAPTER 12 Hyperdimensions; CHAPTER 13 Friday the 13th; CHAPTER 14 Fractran; THE MOTIFS; APPENDIX A The Inclusion-Exclusion Principle.
Summary: Math--the application of reasonable logic to reasonable assumptions--usually produces reasonable results. But sometimes math generates astonishing paradoxes--conclusions that seem completely unreasonable or just plain impossible but that are nevertheless demonstrably true: Conclusions that, for example, tell us that a losing sports team can become a winning one by adding worse players than its opponents. Or that the thirteenth of the month is more likely to be a Friday than any other day. Or that cones can roll unaided uphill. In Nonplussed!--a delightfully eclectic collection of paradoxes fro.
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
eBook eBook e-Library EBSCO Mathematics Available
Total holds: 0

Cover; Title Page; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; Preface; Acknowledgements; Introduction; CHAPTER 1 Three Tennis Paradoxes; CHAPTER 2 The Uphill Roller; CHAPTER 3 The Birthday Paradox; CHAPTER 4 The spin of a Table; CHAPTER 5 Derangements; CHAPTER 6 Conway's Chequerboard Army; CHAPTER 7 The Toss of a Needle; CHAPTER 8 Torricell's Trumpet; CHAPTER 9 Nontransitive Effects; CHAPTER 10 A Pursuit Problem; CHAPTER 11 Parrondo's Games; CHAPTER 12 Hyperdimensions; CHAPTER 13 Friday the 13th; CHAPTER 14 Fractran; THE MOTIFS; APPENDIX A The Inclusion-Exclusion Principle.

Math--the application of reasonable logic to reasonable assumptions--usually produces reasonable results. But sometimes math generates astonishing paradoxes--conclusions that seem completely unreasonable or just plain impossible but that are nevertheless demonstrably true: Conclusions that, for example, tell us that a losing sports team can become a winning one by adding worse players than its opponents. Or that the thirteenth of the month is more likely to be a Friday than any other day. Or that cones can roll unaided uphill. In Nonplussed!--a delightfully eclectic collection of paradoxes fro.

Print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

English.

Added to collection customer.56279.3

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