In pursuit of the unknown [electronic resource] : 17 equations that changed the world / Ian Stewart

Author:: Stewart, Ian, 1945-
Additional Titles:: 17 equations that changed the world
Published:: New York : Basic Books, 2012.
Physical Description:: 1 online resource (x, 342 pages) : illustrations

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Contents:

Why equations? -- The squaw on the hippopotamus : Pythagoras's theorem -- Shortening the proceedings : logarithms -- Ghosts of departed quantities : calculus -- The system of the world : Newton's law of gravity -- Portent of the ideal world : the scare root of minus one -- Much ado about knotting : Euler's formula for polyhedra -- Patterns of chance : normal distribution -- Good vibrations : wave equation -- Ripples and blips : Fourier transform -- The ascent of humanity : Navier-Stokes equation -- Waves in the ether : Maxwell's equations -- Law and disorder : second law of thermodynamics -- One thing is absolute : relativity -- Quantum weirdness : Schrödinger equation -- Codes, communications, and computers : information theory -- The imbalance of nature : chaos theory -- The Midas formula : Black-Scholes equation -- Where next?

Summary:

Acclaimed writer and mathematician Ian Stewart examines the seventeen equations that have revolutionized our thinking and changed the course of history.

Subject(s):

ISBN:

9780465029747 (electronic bk.)
0465029744 (electronic bk.)

Note:

AVAILABLE ONLINE TO AUTHORIZED PSU USERS.

Bibliography Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [321]-330) and index.

Technical Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

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