Professor Stewart's Hoard of Mathematical Treasures

Published by Profile on 8 October 2009

Another drawer from the Cabinet of Curiosities...

The sequel to the bestselling

Professor Stewart's Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities

Pre-order at        amazon.co.uk

A new trove of entrancing numbers and delightful mathematical nibbles for adventurous minds

Ian Stewart, author of the bestselling Professor Stewart’s Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities, presents a new and magical mix of games, puzzles, paradoxes, brainteasers, and riddles. He mingles these with forays into ancient and modern mathematical thought, appallingly hilarious mathematical jokes, and enquiries into the great mathematical challenges of the present and past. Amongst a host of arcane and astonishing facts about every kind of number from irrational or imaginary to complex or cuneiform, we find out: how to organise chaos how matter balances anti-matter how to turn a sphere inside out (without creasing it…) why you can’t comb a hairy ball how to calculate pi by observing the stars And we get some tantalising glimpses of the maths of life and the universe. Mind-stretching, enlightening and endlessly amusing, Professor Stewart’s new entertainment will stimulate, delight, and enthrall.

CONTENTS INCLUDE...

Luckless Lovelorn Lilavati
Swallowing Elephants
Secrets of the Abacus
The Buttered Cat Paradox
What is the Area of an Ostrich Egg?
Mathematical Pirates
How to See Inside Things
Why Can’t I Add Fractions Like I Multiply Them?
A Weird Fact About Egyptian Fractions
A Potted History of Mathematics 
The Shortest Mathematical Joke Ever
What is Point Nine Recurring?
A Better Approximation to π
Mathematicians Musing About Mathematics
Non-Mathematicians Musing About Mathematics
Greek and Trojan Asteroids
The Infinite Monkey Theorem
Beyond the Fourth Dimension    
Slade’s Braid   
A Future History of Mathematics

...a total of 167 mathematical curiosities
to keep you amused and informed,
with over 60 puzzles