Author: Paul J. Nahin
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Keywords: probability, problems, practical, solutions, dice, computational, digital
Number of Pages: 276
Published: 2008-03-23
List price: $27.95
ISBN-10: 0691126984
ISBN-13: 9780691126982

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. This is what Digital Dice is all about: how to get numerical answers to difficult probability problems without having to solve complicated mathematical equations. Popular-math writer Paul Nahin challenges readers to solve twenty-one difficult but fun problems, from determining the odds of coin-flip

Author: Paul J. Nahin
Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Keywords: electrical, genius, victorian, times, work, heaviside, life, oliver
Number of Pages: 360
Published: 2002-10-09
List price: $35.00
ISBN-10: 0801869099
ISBN-13: 9780801869099

"He was a man who often was incapable of conducting himself properly in the most elementary social interactions. His only continuing contacts with women were limited to his mother, nieces, and housekeepers. He was a man who knew the power of money and desired it, but refused to work for it, preferring to live off the sweat of his family and long-suffering friends, whom he often insulted even as they paid his bills." -- from the bookThis, then, was Oliver Heaviside, a pioneer of modern electrical theory. Born into a low social class of Victorian England, Heaviside made advances in mathematics b

Author: Paul J. Nahin
Publisher: Springer
Keywords: time, science, fiction, metaphysics, physics, machines, travel
Number of Pages: 628
Published: 1998-11-06
List price: $54.95
ISBN-10: 0387985719
ISBN-13: 9780387985718

"Here’s a gem of a book...all peppered with delightful notes from science fiction films, novels, and comics. I can’t turn a page without finding a jewel." Clifford Stoll, University of California, Berkeley, author of The Cuckoo’s Egg "The research that has gone into this book is impressive." Nature "For professional physicists much of the value lies in the extensive technical appendices and footnotes, and the exhaustive list of references. But if, like me, you are a child at heart, the real fun lies in the zany stories and wild speculations." Physics World Time Machines ex

Author: Paul J. Nahin
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Keywords: evasion, pursuit, mathematics, escapes, chases
Number of Pages: 270
Published: 2007-07-02
List price: $24.95
ISBN-10: 0691125147
ISBN-13: 9780691125145

We all played tag when we were kids. The rules couldn’t be easier--one player is designated "it" and must try to tag out one of the others. 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 at play in military strategy, high-seas chases by the Coast Guard, even romantic pursuits. In Chases and Escapes, Paul Nahin gives us the first complete history of this fascinating area of mathematics.Writing in an accessible style that has been enjoyed by popu

Author: Paul J. Nahin
Publisher: Springer
Keywords: workbench, demonstrations, electronics, matlab, radio, science
Number of Pages: 466
Published: 2001-06-08
List price: $84.95
ISBN-10: 0387951504
ISBN-13: 9780387951508

The Science of Radio explains the working and charts the development of the ordinary AM radio receiver, which has become an integral part of our lives in the 80 years since its invention. As well as showing the reader the growth of technology in this century, the story of AM radio can provide a unique insight into the basics of electrical engineering, making the primary concepts and applications visual and comprehensible. Taking a "top down" approach to the subject, Nahin starts with a broad overview of radio as a sociological and technological phenomenon, then describes specific advances in r

Author: Paul J. Nahin
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Keywords: minus, one, root, square, tale, story, imaginary
Number of Pages: 257
Published: 1998-08-24
List price: $46.00
ISBN-10: 0691027951
ISBN-13: 9780691027951

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 elusive numbers, the square root of minus one, also known as i, re-creating the baffling mathematical problems that conjured it up and the colorful characters who tried to solve them. In 1878, when two brothers stole a mathematical papyrus from the ancient Egyptian burial site in the Valley of

Author: Paul J. Nahin
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Keywords: puzzlers, probability, idiots, duelling
Number of Pages: 280
Published: 2002-07-01
List price: $28.95
ISBN-10: 0691102864
ISBN-13: 9780691102863

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 playful, sometimes deceptive, ways to a fascinating array of speculative situations. Games of Russian roulette, problems involving the accumulation of insects on flypaper, and strategies for determining the odds of the underdog winning the World Series all reveal intriguing dimensions to the workings