Paul J Nahin: 16 books
The Logician and the Engineer
How George Boole and Claude Shannon Created the Information Age
Language: English
Release Date: October 28, 2012
Boolean algebra, also called Boolean logic, is at the heart of the electronic circuitry in everything we use--from our computers and cars, to our kitchen gadgets and home appliances. How did a system of mathematics established in the Victorian era become the basis for such incredible technological...
Number-Crunching
Taming Unruly Computational Problems from Mathematical Physics to Science Fiction
Language: English
Release Date: August 8, 2011
How do technicians repair broken communications cables at the bottom of the ocean without actually seeing them? What's the likelihood of plucking a needle out of a haystack the size of the Earth? And is it possible to use computers to create a universal library of everything ever written or every...
Mrs. Perkins's Electric Quilt
And Other Intriguing Stories of Mathematical Physics
Language: English
Release Date: August 17, 2009
What does quilting have to do with electric circuit theory? The answer is just one of the fascinating ways that best-selling popular math writer Paul Nahin illustrates the deep interplay of math and physics in the world around us in his latest book of challenging mathematical puzzles, Mrs. Perkins's...
Will You Be Alive 10 Years from Now?
And Numerous Other Curious Questions in Probability
Language: English
Release Date: November 24, 2013
What are the chances of a game-show contestant finding a chicken in a box? Is the Hanukkah dreidel a fair game? Will you be alive ten years from now? These are just some of the one-of-a-kind probability puzzles that acclaimed popular math writer Paul Nahin offers in this lively and informative book.
Nahin...
Digital Dice
Computational Solutions to Practical Probability Problems (New in Paperback)
Language: English
Release Date: March 24, 2013
Some probability problems are so difficult that they stump the smartest mathematicians. But even the hardest of these problems can often be solved with a computer and a Monte Carlo simulation, in which a random-number generator simulates a physical process, such as a million rolls of a pair of dice....
When Least Is Best
How Mathematicians Discovered Many Clever Ways to Make Things as Small (or as Large) as Possible
Language: English
Release Date: October 23, 2011
What is the best way to photograph a speeding bullet? Why does light move through glass in the least amount of time possible? How can lost hikers find their way out of a forest? What will rainbows look like in the future? Why do soap bubbles have a shape that gives them the least area?
By combining...
by Paul J. Nahin
Language: English
Release Date: July 22, 2012
Language: English
Release Date: July 22, 2012
What are your chances of dying on your next flight, being called for jury duty, or winning the lottery? We all encounter probability problems in our everyday lives. In this collection of twenty-one puzzles, Paul Nahin challenges us to think creatively about the laws of probability as they apply in...
An Imaginary Tale
The Story of √-1
Language: English
Release Date: February 22, 2010
Today complex numbers have such widespread practical use--from electrical engineering to aeronautics--that few people would expect the story behind their derivation to be filled with adventure and enigma. In An Imaginary Tale, Paul Nahin tells the 2000-year-old history of one of mathematics' most...
In Praise of Simple Physics
The Science and Mathematics behind Everyday Questions
Language: English
Release Date: May 24, 2016
Physics can explain many of the things that we commonly encounter. It can tell us why the night is dark, what causes the tides, and even how best to catch a baseball. With In Praise of Simple Physics, popular math and science writer Paul Nahin presents a plethora of situations that explore the science...
Digital Dice
Computational Solutions to Practical Probability Problems
Language: English
Release Date: May 4, 2011
Some probability problems are so difficult that they stump the smartest mathematicians. But even the hardest of these problems can often be solved with a computer and a Monte Carlo simulation, in which a random-number generator simulates a physical process, such as a million rolls of a pair of dice....
Chases and Escapes
The Mathematics of Pursuit and Evasion
Language: English
Release Date: July 22, 2012
We all played tag when we were kids. What most of us don't realize is that this simple chase game is in fact an application of pursuit theory, and that the same principles of games like tag, dodgeball, and hide-and-seek are also at play in military strategy, high-seas chases by the Coast Guard, and...
Holy Sci-Fi!
Where Science Fiction and Religion Intersect
Language: English
Release Date: April 9, 2014
Can a computer have a soul? Are religion and science mutually exclusive? Is there really such a thing as free will? If you could time travel to visit Jesus, would you (and should you)? For hundreds of years, philosophers, scientists and science fiction writers have pondered these questions and many...
Dr. Euler's Fabulous Formula
Cures Many Mathematical Ills
Language: English
Release Date: April 25, 2011
In the mid-eighteenth century, Swiss-born mathematician Leonhard Euler developed a formula so innovative and complex that it continues to inspire research, discussion, and even the occasional limerick. Dr. Euler's Fabulous Formula shares the fascinating story of this groundbreaking formula—long...
Time Machine Tales
The Science Fiction Adventures and Philosophical Puzzles of Time Travel
Language: English
Release Date: December 24, 2016
This book contains a broad overview of time travel in science fiction, along with a detailed examination of the philosophical implications of time travel. The emphasis of this book is now on the philosophical and on science fiction, rather than on physics, as in the author's earlier books on the subject....
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