|
From Zero To Infinity
''From Zero to Infinity: What Makes Numbers Interesting'' is a book in popular mathematics and number theory by Constance Reid. It was originally published in 1955 by the Thomas Y. Crowell Company. The fourth edition was published in 1992 by the Mathematical Association of America in their MAA Spectrum series. A K Peters published a fifth "Fiftieth anniversary edition" in 2006. Background Reid was not herself a professional mathematician, but came from a mathematical family that included her sister Julia Robinson and brother-in-law Raphael M. Robinson. She had worked as a schoolteacher, but by the time of the publication of ''From Zero to Infinity'' she was a "housewife and free-lance writer". She became known for her many books about mathematics and mathematicians, aimed at a popular audience, of which this was the first. Reid's interest in number theory was sparked by her sister's use of computers to discover Mersenne primes. She published an article on a closely related to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Popular Mathematics
Popular mathematics is mathematical presentation aimed at a general audience. Sometimes this is in the form of books which require no mathematical background and in other cases it is in the form of expository articles written by professional mathematicians to reach out to others working in different areas. Notable works of popular mathematics Some of the most prolific popularisers of mathematics include Keith Devlin, Rintu Nath, Martin Gardner, and Ian Stewart. Titles by these three authors can be found on their respective pages. On zero * * * On infinity * * Rucker, Rudy (1982), '' Infinity and the Mind: The Science and Philosophy of the Infinite''; Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. . * * * On constants * * * * On complex numbers * * On the Riemann hypothesis * * * * * On recently solved problems * * * * * On classification of finite simple groups * * On higher dimensions * Rucker, Rudy (1984), '' The Fourth Dimension: Toward a G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Binary Representation
A binary number is a number expressed in the base-2 numeral system or binary numeral system, a method for representing numbers that uses only two symbols for the natural numbers: typically "0" (zero) and "1" (one). A ''binary number'' may also refer to a rational number that has a finite representation in the binary numeral system, that is, the quotient of an integer by a power of two. The base-2 numeral system is a positional notation with a radix of 2. Each digit is referred to as a bit, or binary digit. Because of its straightforward implementation in digital electronic circuitry using logic gates, the binary system is used by almost all modern computers and computer-based devices, as a preferred system of use, over various other human techniques of communication, because of the simplicity of the language and the noise immunity in physical implementation. History The modern binary number system was studied in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries by Thomas Harriot, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Integer Partition
In number theory and combinatorics, a partition of a non-negative integer , also called an integer partition, is a way of writing as a summation, sum of positive integers. Two sums that differ only in the order of their summands are considered the same partition. (If order matters, the sum becomes a composition (combinatorics), composition.) For example, can be partitioned in five distinct ways: : : : : : The only partition of zero is the empty sum, having no parts. The order-dependent composition is the same partition as , and the two distinct compositions and represent the same partition as . An individual summand in a partition is called a part. The number of partitions of is given by the Partition function (number theory), partition function . So . The notation means that is a partition of . Partitions can be graphically visualized with Young diagrams or Ferrers diagrams. They occur in a number of branches of mathematics and physics, including the study of symm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Figurate Number
The term figurate number is used by different writers for members of different sets of numbers, generalizing from triangular numbers to different shapes (polygonal numbers) and different dimensions (polyhedral numbers). The ancient Greek mathematicians already considered triangular numbers, polygonal numbers, tetrahedral numbers, and pyramidal numbers, ReprintedG. E. Stechert & Co., 1934 and AMS Chelsea Publishing, 1944. and subsequent mathematicians have included other classes of these numbers including numbers defined from other types of polyhedra and from their analogs in other dimensions. Terminology Some kinds of figurate number were discussed in the 16th and 17th centuries under the name "figural number". In historical works about Greek mathematics the preferred term used to be ''figured number''. In a use going back to Jacob Bernoulli's Ars Conjectandi, the term ''figurate number'' is used for triangular numbers made up of successive integers, tetrahedral numbers made ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diophantine Equation
''Diophantine'' means pertaining to the ancient Greek mathematician Diophantus. A number of concepts bear this name: *Diophantine approximation In number theory, the study of Diophantine approximation deals with the approximation of real numbers by rational numbers. It is named after Diophantus of Alexandria. The first problem was to know how well a real number can be approximated ... * Diophantine equation * Diophantine quintuple * Diophantine set {{disambig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fermat's Last Theorem
In number theory, Fermat's Last Theorem (sometimes called Fermat's conjecture, especially in older texts) states that no three positive number, positive integers , , and satisfy the equation for any integer value of greater than . The cases and have been known since antiquity to have infinitely many solutions.Singh, pp. 18–20 The proposition was first stated as a theorem by Pierre de Fermat around 1637 in the margin of a copy of ''Arithmetica''. Fermat added that he had a proof that was too large to fit in the margin. Although other statements claimed by Fermat without proof were subsequently proven by others and credited as theorems of Fermat (for example, Fermat's theorem on sums of two squares), Fermat's Last Theorem resisted proof, leading to doubt that Fermat ever had a correct proof. Consequently, the proposition became known as a conjecture rather than a theorem. After 358 years of effort by mathematicians, Wiles's proof of Fermat's Last Theorem, the first success ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pythagorean Theorem
In mathematics, the Pythagorean theorem or Pythagoras' theorem is a fundamental relation in Euclidean geometry between the three sides of a right triangle. It states that the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares on the other two sides. The theorem can be written as an equation relating the lengths of the sides , and the hypotenuse , sometimes called the Pythagorean equation: :a^2 + b^2 = c^2 . The theorem is named for the Ancient Greece, Greek philosopher Pythagoras, born around 570 BC. The theorem has been Mathematical proof, proved numerous times by many different methods – possibly the most for any mathematical theorem. The proofs are diverse, including both Geometry, geometric proofs and Algebra, algebraic proofs, with some dating back thousands of years. When Euclidean space is represented by a Cartesian coordinate system in analytic geometry, Euclidean distance satisfies th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Equinumerous
In mathematics, two sets or classes ''A'' and ''B'' are equinumerous if there exists a one-to-one correspondence (or bijection) between them, that is, if there exists a function from ''A'' to ''B'' such that for every element ''y'' of ''B'', there is exactly one element ''x'' of ''A'' with ''f''(''x'') = ''y''. Equinumerous sets are said to have the same cardinality (number of elements). The study of cardinality is often called equinumerosity (''equalness-of-number''). The terms equipollence (''equalness-of-strength'') and equipotence (''equalness-of-power'') are sometimes used instead. Equinumerosity has the characteristic properties of an equivalence relation. The statement that two sets ''A'' and ''B'' are equinumerous is usually denoted :A \approx B \, or A \sim B, or , A, =, B, . The definition of equinumerosity using bijections can be applied to both finite and infinite sets, and allows one to state whether two sets have the same size even if they are infinite. Geo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galileo
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. He was born in the city of Pisa, then part of the Duchy of Florence. Galileo has been called the father of observational astronomy, modern-era classical physics, the scientific method, and modern science. Galileo studied speed and velocity, gravity and free fall, the principle of relativity, inertia, projectile motion and also worked in applied science and technology, describing the properties of the pendulum and " hydrostatic balances". He was one of the earliest Renaissance developers of the thermoscope and the inventor of various military compasses. With an improved telescope he built, he observed the stars of the Milky Way, the phases of Venus, the four largest satellites of Jupiter, Saturn's rings, lunar craters and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Square Number
In mathematics, a square number or perfect square is an integer that is the square (algebra), square of an integer; in other words, it is the multiplication, product of some integer with itself. For example, 9 is a square number, since it equals and can be written as . The usual notation for the square of a number is not the product , but the equivalent exponentiation , usually pronounced as " squared". The name ''square'' number comes from the name of the shape. The unit of area is defined as the area of a unit square (). Hence, a square with side length has area . If a square number is represented by ''n'' points, the points can be arranged in rows as a square each side of which has the same number of points as the square root of ''n''; thus, square numbers are a type of Figurate number, figurate numbers (other examples being Cube (algebra), cube numbers and triangular numbers). In the Real number, real number system, square numbers are non-negative. A non-negative integer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Primality Test
A primality test is an algorithm for determining whether an input number is prime. Among other fields of mathematics, it is used for cryptography. Unlike integer factorization, primality tests do not generally give prime factors, only stating whether the input number is prime or not. Factorization is thought to be a computationally difficult problem, whereas primality testing is comparatively easy (its running time is polynomial in the size of the input). Some primality tests prove that a number is prime, while others like Miller–Rabin prove that a number is composite. Therefore, the latter might more accurately be called ''compositeness tests'' instead of primality tests. Simple methods The simplest primality test is '' trial division'': given an input number, n, check whether it is divisible by any prime number between 2 and \sqrt n (i.e., whether the division leaves no remainder). If so, then n is composite. Otherwise, it is prime.Riesel (1994) pp.2-3 For any divisor p \ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sieve Of Eratosthenes
In mathematics, the sieve of Eratosthenes is an ancient algorithm for finding all prime numbers up to any given limit. It does so by iteratively marking as composite number, composite (i.e., not prime) the multiples of each prime, starting with the first prime number, 2. The multiples of a given prime are generated as a sequence of numbers starting from that prime, with arithmetic progression, constant difference between them that is equal to that prime.Horsley, Rev. Samuel, F. R. S., "' or, The Sieve of Eratosthenes. Being an account of his method of finding all the Prime Numbers,''Philosophical Transactions'' (1683–1775), Vol. 62. (1772), pp. 327–347 This is the sieve's key distinction from using trial division to sequentially test each candidate number for divisibility by each prime. Once all the multiples of each discovered prime have been marked as composites, the remaining unmarked numbers are primes. The earliest known reference to the sieve (, ''kóskinon Eratosthén ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
