The Joy of X: A Guided Tour of Math, from One to Infinity
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STEVEN STROGATZ is a professor of applied mathematics at Cornell University. A renowned teacher and one of the world's most highly cited mathematicians, he has been a frequent guest on National Public Radio's RadioLab. He is the author of Sync and The Calculus of Friendship, the story of his thirty-year correspondence with his high school math teacher.
Amazon Best Books of 2012: Science and Math
"A delightful exploration of the beauty and fun of mathematics, in the best tradition of Lewis Carroll, George Gamow, and Martin Gardner. The Joy of x will entertain you, amaze you, and make you smarter."
--Steven Pinker, Harvard College Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of How the Mind Works and The Language Instinct
"Steven Strogatz should do for math what Julia Child did for cookery. He shows that this stuff really matters, and he shows that it can nourish us."
--James Gleick, author of The Information and Chaos
"Steve Strogatz may be the only person alive with the skill to pied piper me into the murky abyss of set theory. I literally learned something on every page, despite my innumerate brain. This is a fantastic book, conveyed with clarity, technical mastery and infectious joy."
--Jad Abumrad, host of Radiolab
"This joyous book will remind you just how beautiful and mesmerizing math can be. Steve Strogatz is the teacher we all wish we had."
--Joshua Foer, author of Moonwalking with Einstein
"I loved this beautiful book from the first page. With his unique ingenuity and affable charm, Strogatz disassembles mathematics as a subject, both feared and revered, and reassembles it as a world, both accessible and magical. The Joy of x is, well, a joy."
--Janna Levin, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Barnard College, Columbia University, and author of How the Universe Got Its Spots and A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines
"Amazingly, mathematicians can see patterns in the universe that the rest of us are usually blind to. With clarity and dry wit, The Joy of x opens a window onto this hidden world with its landscapes of beauty and wonder."
--Alan Alda
"This book is, simply put, fantastic. It introduces the reader to the underlying concepts of mathematics--presenting reasons for its unfamiliar language and explaining conceptual frameworks that do in fact make understanding complex problems easier. In a world where mathematics is essential but, largely, poorly understood, Steve Strogatz's teaching skills and deft writing style are an important contribution."
--Lisa Randall, Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science, Harvard University, and author of Warped Passages and Knocking on Heaven's Door
"Strogatz's graceful prose is perfectly pitched for a popular math book: authoritative without being patronizing, friendly without being whimsical, and always clear and accessible. His x marks the spot--and hits it."
--Alex Bellos, author of Here's Looking at Euclid
"Strogatz has discovered a magical function that transforms 'math' into 'joy, ' page after wonderful page. He takes everything that ever mystified you about math and makes it better than clear--he makes it wondrous, delicious, and amazing."
--Daniel Gilbert, Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of Stumbling on Happiness
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