
"I predict that Kasper and Feller will become a standard reference on holography for students and interested laymen." — James A. Van Allen.
For most nonscientists, holograms are an intriguing — if not mesmerizing — mystery. How are these seemingly magical images created and what makes them appear to be three-dimensional? This fascinating book not only offers the answers to these and other questions about holography — it even gives step-by-step instructions so that readers can manufacture their own holograms.
Written in a lively, stimulating style, The Complete Book of Holograms provides a thorough, easy-to-understand explanation of the theory and science of making holograms. The physical basis of holography is introduced through a discussion of interference patterns in water waves and in light waves. Without complicated mathematics or physics, the authors explain the two models of holography — the geometric and the more complex zone-plate model — and the several different types of holograms, including transmission, reflection, phase, projection, rainbow, multiplex, and others. They explain how to copy holograms; describe special techniques and applications; and discuss potential uses for holography, including the use of holograms in movies, television, and data storage. They also present some basic setups for making holograms and show readers how to create their own — using little more than simple photographic equipment and an inexpensive laser. Two appendixes give advice on laser safety and list sources of material and further information.
"I predict that Kasper and Feller will become a standard reference on holography for students and interested laymen." — James A. Van Allen.
For most nonscientists, holograms are an intriguing — if not mesmerizing — mystery. How are these seemingly magical images created and what makes them appear to be three-dimensional? This fascinating book not only offers the answers to these and other questions about holography — it even gives step-by-step instructions so that readers can manufacture their own holograms.
Written in a lively, stimulating style, The Complete Book of Holograms provides a thorough, easy-to-understand explanation of the theory and science of making holograms. The physical basis of holography is introduced through a discussion of interference patterns in water waves and in light waves. Without complicated mathematics or physics, the authors explain the two models of holography — the geometric and the more complex zone-plate model — and the several different types of holograms, including transmission, reflection, phase, projection, rainbow, multiplex, and others. They explain how to copy holograms; describe special techniques and applications; and discuss potential uses for holography, including the use of holograms in movies, television, and data storage. They also present some basic setups for making holograms and show readers how to create their own — using little more than simple photographic equipment and an inexpensive laser. Two appendixes give advice on laser safety and list sources of material and further information.
For this revised and enlarged edition, the author added material on such wide-ranging topics as the psychology of lottery players, the arrangement of chromosomes in a human cell, new and larger prime numbers, the fair division of a cake, how to find the shortest possible way to link a dozen locations by rail, and many other absorbing conundrums.
This appealing volume reflects the author’s longstanding concern with demonstrating the practical and concrete applications of mathematics as well as its theoretical aspects. It not only clearly and convincingly answers the question asked of Dr. Steinhaus but also offers readers a fascinating glimpse into the world of numbers and their uses.
In this collection of original puzzles, games, and codes, the heroic Dr. Ecco, a mathematical detective and puzzle solver, takes on his archenemy, Baskerhound, and uncovers a plot that threatens the world. No sophisticated mathematical background is necessary to solve these challenges, which were inspired by the methods and thinking of researchers in computer science and mathematics. All you need is imagination and a passion for puzzles.
A graduate of Yale, author Dennis Shasha received his Ph.D. from Harvard and is Associate Professor of Computer Science at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University. He includes complete solutions at the end of the book, and has rated the puzzles according to difficulty.
Over a period of 25 years as author of the Mathematical Games column for Scientific American, Martin Gardner devoted a column every six months or so to short math problems or puzzles. He was especially careful to present new and unfamiliar puzzles that had not been included in such classic collections as those by Sam Loyd and Henry Dudeney. Later, these puzzles were published in book collections, incorporating reader feedback on alternate solutions or interesting generalizations.
The present volume contains a rich selection of 70 of the best of these brain teasers, in some cases including references to new developments related to the puzzle. Now enthusiasts can challenge their solving skills and rattle their egos with such stimulating mind-benders as The Returning Explorer, The Mutilated Chessboard, Scrambled Box Tops, The Fork in the Road, Bronx vs. Brooklyn, Touching Cigarettes, and 64 other problems involving logic and basic math. Solutions are included.
"Mr. Northrop writes well and simply. Every so often he will illuminate his discussion with an amusing example. While reading a discussion of topology, the reviewer learned how to remove his vest from beneath his jacket. It works every time." — The New York Times
The tangram is not entirely new to America, since Yankee sea captains brought books of tangram puzzles back from Canton and Shanghai. Edgar Allan Poe was a devotee, while on the other side of the world Napoleon is said to have whiled away his time with them. Around the turn of the twentieth century, the two great modern puzzlers, H. E. Dudeney and Sam Loyd, greatly enlarged the traditional field of tangram situations.
This collection gathers together nearly 330 tangrams, the best creations of both Chinese and Occidental puzzle devisers. Included are some of the most striking Oriental puzzles, carefully selected from rare nineteenth-century books and some of the most inventive and imaginative inventions of Loyd and Dudeney. Although individual tangrams have always been favorite members of most collections of mathematical amusements, to our knowledge this is the first book devoted entirely to this popular form in many decades.
Some of the tangrams in this collection are relatively easy and can be solved without too much brain-straining. Others are difficult, and many demand quite a bit of mental sweat before they are resolved. All, however, are delightful concoctions in recreational form-perception and will provide many hours of pleasure.
Part of the reason for the book's success is its marvelously varied assortment of brainteasers ranging from simple "catch" riddles to difficult problems (none, however, requiring advanced mathematics). Many of the puzzles will be new to Western readers, while some familiar problems have been clothed in new forms. Often the puzzles are presented in the form of charming stories that provide non-Russian readers with valuable insights into contemporary Russian life and customs. In addition, Martin Gardner, former editor of the Mathematical Games Department, Scientific American, has clarified and simplified the book to make it as easy as possible for an English-reading public to understand and enjoy. He has been careful, moreover, to retain nearly all the freshness, warmth, and humor of the original.
Lavishly illustrated with over 400 clear diagrams and amusing sketches, this inexpensive edition of the first English translation will offer weeks or even months of stimulating entertainment. It belongs in the library of every puzzlist or lover of recreational mathematics.
Published posthumously in 1663, Cardano's Liber de ludo aleae (Book on Games of Chance) is often considered the major starting point of the study of mathematical probability. The Italian scholar formulated some of the field's basic ideas more than a century before the better-known correspondence of Pascal and Fermat. Although his book had no direct influence on other early thinkers about probability, it remains an important antecedent to later expressions of the science's tenets.
Detailed solutions show several methods by which a particular problem may be answered, why one method is preferable, and where the others fail. With numerous worked examples, the clear, step-by-step analyses cover how the problem should be approached, including hints and enumeration of possibilities and determination of probabilities, application of the theory of probability, and evaluation of contingencies and mean values. Readers are certain to improve their puzzle-solving strategies as well as their mathematical skills.
If two typists can type two pages in two minutes, how many typists will it take to type 18 pages?
How many days are in five million seconds?
If you think these are good questions, this is the book for you! Over two hundred entertaining puzzles involving mathematical and mechanical calculations include challenges to your lateral thinking and logical reasoning. When your brain's tired of being teased, you can consult the complete solutions.
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Ian Stewart FRS is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of
Warwick and a leading popularizer of mathematics. He is author or coauthor of
over 200 research papers on pattern formation, chaos, network dynamics, and
biomathematics. He has been a Fellow of the Royal Society since 2001, and has
served on Council, its governing body. He has five honorary doctorates.
He has published more than 120 books including Why Beauty is Truth, Professor
Stewart's Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities, Calculating the Cosmos,
Significant Figures, and the four-volume series The Science of Discworld with
Terry Pratchett and Jack Cohen. He has also written the science fiction novels
Wheelers and Heaven with Jack Cohen, and The Living Labyrinth and Rock Star with
Tim Poston.
He wrote the Mathematical Recreations column for Scientific American from 1990
to 2001. He has made 90 television appearances and 450 radio broadcasts, most of
them about mathematics for the general public, and has delivered hundreds of
public lectures on mathematics.
His awards include the Royal Society’s Faraday Medal, the Gold Medal of the
Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications, the Zeeman Medal (IMA and London
Mathematical Society), the Lewis Thomas Prize (Rockefeller University), and the
Euler Book Prize (Mathematical Association of America).
For 25 of his 95 years, Martin Gardner wrote 'Mathematical Games and Recreations', a monthly column for Scientific American magazine. These columns have inspired hundreds of thousands of readers to delve more deeply into the large world of mathematics. He has also made significant contributions to magic, philosophy, debunking pseudoscience, and children's literature. He has produced more than 60 books, including many best sellers, most of which are still in print. His Annotated Alice has sold more than a million copies. He continues to write a regular column for the Skeptical Inquirer magazine.