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Mathematical Cranks
''Mathematical Cranks'' is a book on pseudomathematics and the cranks who create it, written by Underwood Dudley. It was published by the Mathematical Association of America in their MAA Spectrum book series in 1992 (). Topics Previously, Augustus De Morgan wrote in ''A Budget of Paradoxes'' about cranks in multiple subjects, and Dudley wrote a book about angle trisection. However, this is the first book to focus on mathematical crankery as a whole. The book consists of 57 essays, loosely organized by the most common topics in mathematics for cranks to focus their attention on. The "top ten" of these topics, as listed by reviewer Ian Stewart, are, in order: # squaring the circle, # angle trisection, # Fermat's Last Theorem, # non-Euclidean geometry and the parallel postulate, # the golden ratio, # perfect numbers, # the four color theorem, # advocacy for duodecimal and other non-standard number systems, # Cantor's diagonal argument for the uncountability of the real numbers, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pseudomathematics
Pseudomathematics, or mathematical crankery, is a mathematics-like activity that does not adhere to the framework of rigor of formal mathematical practice. Common areas of pseudomathematics are solutions of problems proved to be unsolvable or recognized as extremely hard by experts, as well as attempts to apply mathematics to non-quantifiable areas. A person engaging in pseudomathematics is called a pseudomathematician or a pseudomath. Pseudomathematics has equivalents in other scientific fields, and may overlap with other topics characterized as pseudoscience. Pseudomathematics often contains mathematical fallacies whose executions are tied to elements of deceit rather than genuine, unsuccessful attempts at tackling a problem. Excessive pursuit of pseudomathematics can result in the practitioner being labelled a crank. Because it is based on non-mathematical principles, pseudomathematics is not related to attempts at genuine proofs that contain mistakes. Indeed, such mistakes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doubling The Cube
Doubling the cube, also known as the Delian problem, is an ancient geometric problem. Given the edge of a cube, the problem requires the construction of the edge of a second cube whose volume is double that of the first. As with the related problems of squaring the circle and trisecting the angle, doubling the cube is now known to be impossible to construct by using only a compass and straightedge, but even in ancient times solutions were known that employed other tools. The Egyptians, Indians, and particularly the Greeks were aware of the problem and made many futile attempts at solving what they saw as an obstinate but soluble problem. However, the nonexistence of a compass-and-straightedge solution was finally proven by Pierre Wantzel in 1837. In algebraic terms, doubling a unit cube requires the construction of a line segment of length , where ; in other words, , the cube root of two. This is because a cube of side length 1 has a volume of , and a cube of twice that vo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Van Der Pol Oscillator
In dynamics, the Van der Pol oscillator is a non-conservative oscillator with non-linear damping. It evolves in time according to the second-order differential equation: :-\mu(1-x^2)+x= 0, where ''x'' is the position coordinate—which is a function of the time ''t'', and ''μ'' is a scalar parameter indicating the nonlinearity and the strength of the damping. History The Van der Pol oscillator was originally proposed by the Dutch electrical engineer and physicist Balthasar van der Pol while he was working at Philips. Van der Pol found stable oscillations, which he subsequently called relaxation-oscillations and are now known as a type of limit cycle in electrical circuits employing vacuum tubes. When these circuits are driven near the limit cycle, they become entrained, i.e. the driving signal pulls the current along with it. Van der Pol and his colleague, van der Mark, reported in the September 1927 issue of ''Nature'' that at certain drive frequencies an irregular noise wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Statistics
Statistics (from German: '' Statistik'', "description of a state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a scientific, industrial, or social problem, it is conventional to begin with a statistical population or a statistical model to be studied. Populations can be diverse groups of people or objects such as "all people living in a country" or "every atom composing a crystal". Statistics deals with every aspect of data, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments.Dodge, Y. (2006) ''The Oxford Dictionary of Statistical Terms'', Oxford University Press. When census data cannot be collected, statisticians collect data by developing specific experiment designs and survey samples. Representative sampling assures that inferences and conclusions can reasonably extend from the sample to the population as a whole. An ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Set Theory
Set theory is the branch of mathematical logic that studies sets, which can be informally described as collections of objects. Although objects of any kind can be collected into a set, set theory, as a branch of mathematics, is mostly concerned with those that are relevant to mathematics as a whole. The modern study of set theory was initiated by the German mathematicians Richard Dedekind and Georg Cantor in the 1870s. In particular, Georg Cantor is commonly considered the founder of set theory. The non-formalized systems investigated during this early stage go under the name of ''naive set theory''. After the discovery of paradoxes within naive set theory (such as Russell's paradox, Cantor's paradox and the Burali-Forti paradox) various axiomatic systems were proposed in the early twentieth century, of which Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory (with or without the axiom of choice) is still the best-known and most studied. Set theory is commonly employed as a foundational ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Twin Prime
A twin prime is a prime number that is either 2 less or 2 more than another prime number—for example, either member of the twin prime pair (41, 43). In other words, a twin prime is a prime that has a prime gap of two. Sometimes the term ''twin prime'' is used for a pair of twin primes; an alternative name for this is prime twin or prime pair. Twin primes become increasingly rare as one examines larger ranges, in keeping with the general tendency of gaps between adjacent primes to become larger as the numbers themselves get larger. However, it is unknown whether there are infinitely many twin primes (the so-called twin prime conjecture) or if there is a largest pair. The breakthrough work of Yitang Zhang in 2013, as well as work by James Maynard, Terence Tao and others, has made substantial progress towards proving that there are infinitely many twin primes, but at present this remains unsolved. Properties Usually the pair (2, 3) is not considered to be a pair of twin primes. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constructible Polygon
In mathematics, a constructible polygon is a regular polygon that can be constructed with compass and straightedge. For example, a regular pentagon is constructible with compass and straightedge while a regular heptagon is not. There are infinitely many constructible polygons, but only 31 with an odd number of sides are known. Conditions for constructibility Some regular polygons are easy to construct with compass and straightedge; others are not. The ancient Greek mathematicians knew how to construct a regular polygon with 3, 4, or 5 sides, and they knew how to construct a regular polygon with double the number of sides of a given regular polygon.Bold, Benjamin. ''Famous Problems of Geometry and How to Solve Them'', Dover Publications, 1982 (orig. 1969). This led to the question being posed: is it possible to construct ''all'' regular polygons with compass and straightedge? If not, which ''n''-gons (that is, polygons with ''n'' edges) are constructible and which are not? Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Divisibility Rule
A divisibility rule is a shorthand and useful way of determining whether a given integer is divisible by a fixed divisor without performing the division, usually by examining its digits. Although there are divisibility tests for numbers in any radix, or base, and they are all different, this article presents rules and examples only for decimal, or base 10, numbers. Martin Gardner explained and popularized these rules in his September 1962 "Mathematical Games" column in '' Scientific American''. Divisibility rules for numbers 1–30 The rules given below transform a given number into a generally smaller number, while preserving divisibility by the divisor of interest. Therefore, unless otherwise noted, the resulting number should be evaluated for divisibility by the same divisor. In some cases the process can be iterated until the divisibility is obvious; for others (such as examining the last ''n'' digits) the result must be examined by other means. For divisors with multipl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magic Square
In recreational mathematics, a square array of numbers, usually positive integers, is called a magic square if the sums of the numbers in each row, each column, and both main diagonals are the same. The 'order' of the magic square is the number of integers along one side (''n''), and the constant sum is called the ' magic constant'. If the array includes just the positive integers 1,2,...,n^2, the magic square is said to be 'normal'. Some authors take magic square to mean normal magic square. Magic squares that include repeated entries do not fall under this definition and are referred to as 'trivial'. Some well-known examples, including the Sagrada Família magic square and the Parker square are trivial in this sense. When all the rows and columns but not both diagonals sum to the magic constant this gives a ''semimagic square (sometimes called orthomagic square). The mathematical study of magic squares typically deals with their construction, classification, and enumeration. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goldbach's Conjecture
Goldbach's conjecture is one of the oldest and best-known unsolved problems in number theory and all of mathematics. It states that every even natural number greater than 2 is the sum of two prime numbers. The conjecture has been shown to hold for all integers less than 4 × 1018, but remains unproven despite considerable effort. History On 7 June 1742, the German mathematician Christian Goldbach wrote a letter to Leonhard Euler (letter XLIII), in which he proposed the following conjecture: Goldbach was following the now-abandoned convention of considering 1 to be a prime number, so that a sum of units would indeed be a sum of primes. He then proposed a second conjecture in the margin of his letter, which implies the first: Euler replied in a letter dated 30 June 1742 and reminded Goldbach of an earlier conversation they had had (), in which Goldbach had remarked that the first of those two conjectures would follow from the statement This is in fact equivalent to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gödel's Incompleteness Theorems
Gödel's incompleteness theorems are two theorems of mathematical logic that are concerned with the limits of in formal axiomatic theories. These results, published by Kurt Gödel in 1931, are important both in mathematical logic and in the philosophy of mathematics. The theorems are widely, but not universally, interpreted as showing that Hilbert's program to find a complete and consistent set of axioms for all mathematics is impossible. The first incompleteness theorem states that no consistent system of axioms whose theorems can be listed by an effective procedure (i.e., an algorithm) is capable of proving all truths about the arithmetic of natural numbers. For any such consistent formal system, there will always be statements about natural numbers that are true, but that are unprovable within the system. The second incompleteness theorem, an extension of the first, shows that the system cannot demonstrate its own consistency. Employing a diagonal argument, Gödel's inc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fermat's Little Theorem
Fermat's little theorem states that if ''p'' is a prime number, then for any integer ''a'', the number a^p - a is an integer multiple of ''p''. In the notation of modular arithmetic, this is expressed as : a^p \equiv a \pmod p. For example, if = 2 and = 7, then 27 = 128, and 128 − 2 = 126 = 7 × 18 is an integer multiple of 7. If is not divisible by , that is if is coprime to , Fermat's little theorem is equivalent to the statement that is an integer multiple of , or in symbols: : a^ \equiv 1 \pmod p. For example, if = 2 and = 7, then 26 = 64, and 64 − 1 = 63 = 7 × 9 is thus a multiple of 7. Fermat's little theorem is the basis for the Fermat primality test and is one of the fundamental results of elementary number theory. The theorem is named after Pierre de Fermat, who stated it in 1640. It is called the "little theorem" to distinguish it from Fermat's Last Theorem.. History Pierre de Fermat first stated the theorem in a letter dated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
