Book Description

Working at Inventing offers a fascinating study of research and development at Thomas Edison's Menlo Park (New Jersey) laboratory during the six years between 1876 and 1882 that transformed American life. Edison and his associates developed ideas that led to more than four hundred patents and made major contributions to telegraphy, telephony, and the duplication of texts. They also made breakthrough innovations in two age-old human quests: conquering the darkness of night and preserving and replaying sound. In the process, Edison demonstrated how to combine technological innovation and business strategy. Afterward, research and development became essential corporate activities.

Six experts on Edison's work deal in turn with the working conditions and the experiences at Menlo Park; the work culture of machinists and their impact on innovation; the role that telegraphy played in forming the lab's inventive activities; Edison's use of mental models in developing the telephone; the importance of visual communication in technology; and the significance of Menlo Park as a model of scientific and technological development.William Pretzer's introduction to the volume provides the context of Edison's career, while an epilogue explains the public interpretation of the Menlo Park laboratory as reconstructed by Henry Ford in his outdoor museum, Greenfield Village. ... Read more

Book Description

The definitive lay reader's account of the Everests of mathematics--the seven unsolved problems that definethe state of the art in contemporary math.

In 2000, the Clay Foundation of Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced a historic competition: whoever could solve any of seven extraordinarily difficult mathematical problems, and have the solution acknowledged as correct by the experts, would receive $1 million in prize money. There was some precedent for doing this: in 1900 David Hilbert, one of the greatest mathematicians of his day, proposed twenty-three problems, now known as the Hilbert Problems, that set much of the agenda for mathematics in the twentieth century. The Millennium Problems are likely to acquire similar stature, and their solution (or lack of one) is likely to play a strong role in determining the course of mathematics in the current century. Keith Devlin, renowned expositor of mathematics, tells here what the seven problems are, how they came about, and what they mean for math and science.

These problems are the brass rings held out to today's mathematicians, glittering and just out of reach. In the hands of Keith Devlin, "the Math Guy" from NPR's "Weekend Edition," each Millennium Problem becomes a fascinating window onto the deepest and toughest questions in the field. For mathematicians, physicists, engineers, and everyone else with an interest in mathematics' cutting edge, The Millennium Problems is the definitive account of a subject that will have a very long shelf life. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

An honest attempt to explain deep mathematics
In this book the author makes a sincere attempt to describe to a popular audience the content behind seven mathematical problems that were chosen by a private foundation called "The Clay Institute" as being deep enough to warrant a prize of $1,000,000 for their solution. The goal is realized in some parts of the book, but falls short in others, but it still is of value to those who are curious about the history and content behind these problems. The author is aware of the difficulty in describing the content of the problems to readers without substantial mathematical preparation, and he does a good job in general.

One can of course think of many other problems that fit the stature of the millennium problems, such as the invariant subspace conjecture, or developing a complete mathematical model of the cell, but these seven will no doubt spark the curiosity of a few young persons as they further their studies in mathematics. Some of the millennium problems, such as the Riemann hypothesis, the NP problem, the Poincare conjecture, and the Navier-Stokes equations, require only an undergraduate education. The others definitely require more background, just to understand even the statement of the problem. All of the them are fascinating, and will no doubt stimulate some incredibly interesting mathematical constructions.

Personal note for anyone interested (from someone who has worked on one of these problems for several years): For those readers who are thinking about attacking one of these problems, it is important to be really interested in solving it, for your own satisfaction, and not to be concerned about the financial reward or what the solution will bring you in terms of professional advancement. Large blocks of time will be needed to think about the problem, and therefore you will have to be concerned with your livelihood in the interim. Being a single person will definitely relieve you of the financial burden of having to support a family, but on the other hand a family will bring you personal warmth as you take the roller coaster ride of confidence and depression that goes with this kind of research. A traditional tenure-track position might be difficult to justify, since you will not be publishing and therefore your chances of obtaining tenure will be greatly diminished. It might also be wise in whatever job you work in to keep your ambitions to yourself, as colleagues and other mathematicians will typically not be encouraging in your decision to work on the problem. Therefore, you will definitely find yourself working on two problems in your life: the millennium problem and a constrained optimization problem, the latter being how to live your life in the interim, and whose solution possibly ranks in similar complexity. Your research in the millennium problem will probably take years, and as you see more lines appear on your face and your colleagues take the normal professional route, you might have doubts about your decisions. The more time spent on it without resolution of course will close the doors on a standard career in academia, and you will approach a critical point where there is no turning back. It is at this time that you will realize that it is you that has taken charge of yourself, your goals, and your attitudes about mathematics and life...and this of course is the best possible life anyone can have.

It's Not An "Idiot's Guide to the Millenium Problems"
Let's be frank: most people have a better chance of winning $1M at the state lottery than by proving any of these "millennium problems". Keith Devlin does a good job of explaining why. A little reverse psychology here and there ("...if you find the going too hard, then the wise strategy might be to give up.") just makes us want to push on toward the more difficult problems.

The going isn't too hard thanks to Devlin's expository ability, but alas, I think this will be true only for aficionados of mathematics and physics. In his columns for the Mathematical Association of America, Keith has always had in mind a varied audience of readers. But how can he hope to communicate to the non-mathematician when so much meaning resides in the equations that appear throughout the book? Still, his pedagogy prevents this from becoming "The Idiot's Guide to the Millennium Problems". (I suppose it'll appear real soon.)

Devlin hints at a disturbing idea. Will cutting edge problems become so abstruse some day that it will take the best minds all the fruitful years of their lives just to arrive at a position of comprehension? What then, mathematical AI?

There are some silly mistakes, perhaps caused by a looming deadline. One involves a mix-up between the relativistic precession of Mercury's orbit and the relativistic bending of light rays. A logical error appears in a footnote on pg.54, where the word "a" should replace "no". Another one appears in the caption of Fig. 5.5, where "Example" should replace "Proof". Would it be too much to ask that copy editors who are assigned technical books have a dim awareness of mathematical argumentation?

Pedantic
This book is more pedantic than I thought it would be. Being a smallish book and a smaller audience, it is understandable that the mathematical details are trimmed down (almost excised, you might say). Still, there is too much history and not enough details. Too often the author says that it may be above the reader's level. Overall, I was disappointed, but it was not a waste.

Oddly uneven exposition....
Someone may want to point out to Mr Devlin that the kind of person who picks up this book and who is willing to plough through it probably has a high level of native intelligence (even if she does not have an extensive math background) and the repeated and protracted "apologies" for the high level of abstraction of the mathematics which these problems require is both annoying and patronizing. I would guess that a bright 15 or 16 year old would have made that assumption before opening the front cover. It's simply unnecessary. And amounts to filler after a while.
Now to the math. A reader having an extensive math background (say college major or above) will find little real math of interest here. Be prepared to face a page and a half explanation of the amazing growth in magnitude of factorials.
There is astoundingly some algebra done wrong here (see page 192).
The research in some of the chapters appears to have been done hastily and the exposition is not clear (P vs NP Problem for example).
There are factual errors, from the minor (the year of Isaac Newton's birth) to Mr Devlin having Daniel Bernoulli and Euler working in the 19th century (p. 132; it was the eighteenth).
This gives the feel of a book which has been written hastily and one wonders if it was reviewed by another mathematician before publication.
In fairness, the description of most of the problems is deftly handled and will draw the interest of most readers.
Please give the climbing the mountain to view the math landscape analogy a rest.
The book is ridiculously overpriced at US $16.00 and Canadian $25.00.

Inspiring. And, it's from Keith Devlin.
Great book. Although pushing the limits of "accessible", those who understand it will be intrigued by Devlin's discussion of the Millenium Problems, a set of puzzling mathematical problems that, if solved, could redefine and revolutionize mathematical science. If you thought cryptography was interesting, wait until you see this.

Also recommended: The Math Gene (also by Keith Devlin) ... Read more

Book Description

From the 1770s through the 1820s the French scientific community predominated in the world to a degree that no other scientific establishment did in any period prior to the Second World War. In his classic Science and Polity in France: The End of the Old Regime, Charles Gillispie analyzed the cultural, political, and technical factors that encouraged scientific productivity on the eve of the Revolution. In the present monumental and elegantly written sequel to that work, which Princeton is reissuing concurrently, he examines how the revolutionary and Napoleonic context contributed to modernization both of politics and science.

In politics, argues Gillispie, the central feature of this modernization was conversion of subjects of a monarchy into citizens of a republic in direct contact with a state enormously augmented in power. To the scientific community, attainment of professional status was what citizenship was to all Frenchmen in the republic proper, namely the license to self-governance and dignity within the respective contexts. Revolutionary circumstances set up a resonance between politics and science since practitioners of both were future oriented in their outlook and scornful of the past.

Among the creations of the First French Republic were institutions providing the earliest higher education in science. From them emerged rigorously trained people who constituted the founding generation in the disciplines of mathematical physics, positivistic biology, and clinical medicine. That scientists were able to achieve their ends was owing to the expertise they provided the revolutionary and imperial authorities in education, medicine, warfare, empire building, and industrial technology.

... Read more

Book Description

Quantumelectrodynamics (QED) was the subject of "QED - The Strange Theory of Light and Matter," the popular book by Richard Feynman which was first published by Princeton University Press in 1985.Feynman makes passing references to the fact that the book is based on a series of general lectures on QED which were first delivered in New Zealand.Feynman had doubts about the accessibility of the lectures on QED to a general audience, and chose not to initially deliver these lectures at his native Caltech.Rather he chose remote New Zealand as his testing ground and in the process, gave the New Zealand physics community the dubious honor of being the guinea-pigs for his QED lectures.At Auckland University, these lectures were delivered in 1979, as the Sir Douglas Robb Lectures. Althoug h the published version of "QED - The Strange Theory of Light and Matter" is an excellent self-contained description of the subject, watching an unedite d Feynman delivering the lectures reveals his style and enthusiasm for his subject in a way which is impossible in a printed medium.Direct quotation s from the lectures provide fascinating additional insight both into the material of QED itself and into Feynman's character.4 VHS video cassettes .NTSC version (North American standard). ... Read more

Reviews (59)

A classic in the physics community!
QED. It's not Quod Erat Demonstrandum; no, it's not even Quickly Ends Dandruff. Then, what is it? Quantum ElectroDynamics. Now, if you're ignorant of physics, you're probably still thinking, "That says a whole lot. What is it?" By this rather formidable name, you might not be able to tell if you want to read the book or not, so I'll synopsize. Over three quarters (75%, if you prefer--ooh, I can do math!) of this book explains movements and interactions of electrons and photons expressed as probabilities. The last section discusses a variation of QED, quantum chromodynamics (i.e. quarks). Unlike some abstruse conjectures (most notably, string theory), quantum electrodynamics can be and has been experimentally verified. In fact, it is the most accurate theory ever devised! This does not mean that QED is totally compliant with common sense (fortunately; physics addicts often find common sense to be rather dull--and incorrect!). The reader learns to accept that light does not always travel in straight paths, that light reflects from all parts of a mirror, and that electrons can travel backward in time. Richard Feynman, who (along with Sin-Itiro Tomonaga and Julian Schwinger) was awarded the 1965 Nobel Prize for his work on this theory, elucidates QED so that even those who have never before studied physics can understand it. (To be more accurate, they can understand *how* QED works; Feynman admits that no one, himself included, truly understands *why* QED works.) If you already are familiar with the theory, you are likely to become bored with this book. On the other hand, I'm not sure that this book is the best for physics neophytes, since it is specific in explaining this one given area (even skipping the historical background present in most popular accounts of physics). You might want to first obtain more general knowledge of modern physics. If you find optics interesting, definitely read this book. For anyone who wants a deeper knowledge of modern physics or chemistry, an understanding of quantum electrodynamics is a sine qua non, and this book is probably the most explicit introduction on the market.

~pythia~

Earnest Enthusiasm and Elfish Delight
*QED* is an edited version of four lectures delivered to a lay audience at UCLA in 1983. It conveys Feynman's unique combination of earnest enthusiasm and elfish delight at the fact that "the way we have to describe Nature is generally incomprehensible to us." (p. 77) It is probably true that the book can be profitably read by every class of reader, from Feynman's physicist peers to street people (if this is not the contemporary equivalent of "the man in the street," why isn't it??) who have never studied physics. Feynman was a great communicator, and knew how to throw out a lifeline of wit, reason, or good sense in the midst of the most bewildering complexities. Twenty-first century humanity urgently needs to integrate something of the quantum view of reality into its common understanding of things, and Feynman's work is a precious contribution toward that end. Highly recommended!

Illuminating
Get it? Illuminating. This book explains the interaction between light and matter, which is illuminating. If you understand the pun, then you have the brain capacity to understand this book.

Richard Feynman possessed some kind of special brand of genius which enabled him to masquerade as a regular guy. He was able to cut to the quick of Nature's mysteries and explain in plain english what he saw there for the benefit of those of us lacking in genius.

Feynman freed us from the need to relate to quantum physics by memorizing a set of arcane mathematical expressions, and delivered to us a way of understanding the probabilistic nature of quantum reality by drawing a bunch of little arrows pointing this way and that. His method, known as "Feynman diagrams", is so simple that it seems almost childlike, yet it works every time.

The theory of Quantum ElectoDynamics is the most complete theory that science has in its arsenal. The theory explains 99% of everything we see at the classical level of reality. Feynman was never quite able to tie in the oddities observed in the interaction of nuclei or gravitrons, but reality as we observe it is more or less dictated by the interaction of electrons, and this theory describes that interplay perfectly.

Feyman's "sum over histories" explains reality even better than Newton's seemingly incontrovertable laws of Nature, which in actuality, decribe only the end result of the sum over histories. Where Newton described one reality, the one observed by all of us, Feynman described every microscopic reality, each as real as the other, and all culminating in the one macroscopic reality as described by Newton. Feynman described particles moving faster than light, and even backwards in time - all of which is explained in his "strange theory of light and matter", and all of which is endlessly verifiable in the laboratory.

For anyone willing to break out of the Newtonian mindset which humanity has been in for over 300 years, and which is still taught in today's high school science classrooms, this book is a must read. Treat yourself to 150 pages of plain english which will infuse you with wonder for the rest of your days.

Excellent
I am an Electrical Engineer and had the usual education. It is a delight to read this book and learn about the fundamental theory upon which much of the Electrical Engineering profession is based.

Much of what we are taught in schools is an approximation and sometimes wrong. It is great to learn, even if it is only qualitatively, about more accurate representations.

I wish that Feynman were alive to keep updating his lectures with the latest developments. The lectures seem to have been last updated in 1980s and I am sure Physics has moved on since then.

Easily understood intro to QED
Richard Feynman, along with Schwinger and Tomonaga, won Nobel prizes in the 1960's for their development of quantum electrodynamics (QED). In this book, Feynman attempts to bring this esoteric field down to the layman's level and succeeds as usual. The chapters in the book are taken from lectures he presented to a largely nonscientific audience, but the material is not dumbed down. Of course, many of the details are left out since only years of study can provide a true understanding of the theory, but Feynman presents his lectures in such a way that only a reasonable amount of thought is needed to appreciate the basics of QED.

"The Strange Theory of Light and Matter" is an entirely appropriate subtitle to a book that attempts to explain the theory behind phenomena that escape our everyday experience and intuition. QED is arguably the most successful scientific theory in existence. Its predictions have correlated extraordinarily well with experiment although "prediction" in the QED sense is not what we are generally used to. The quantum world is inherently probabilistic. There are certain things we just cannot "know." We cannot predict which photons will reflect of a glass surface, but with QED, we can at least accurately calculate the percentage of photons that do reflect. That's just one of the results of QED that Feynman attempts to explain, and he does so in a very straightforward fashion.

Feynman never insults the intelligence of his audience by pretending that the basics of QED are beyond its grasp, but instead repeatedly insists that no one really understands QED, but that should not prevent anyone from appreciating some of its results. With this attitude, Feynman explains the basics of partial reflection, particle interactions, and the discoveries of new particles, and he does all this through numerous figures and analogies rather than mathematical equations.

Richard Feynman was not your ordinary physicist. He was a physicist's physicist and a great teacher (read James Gleick's bio of Feynman called Genius). His teaching abilities are in full display in this book as he is able to bring an incredibly strange theory down to the average reader's level. I highly recommend this book. It will tax your thinking abilities but will never insult them. ... Read more

Book Description

Over fifty years ago,Vannevar Bush released his enormouslyinfluential report, Science, the Endless Frontier, which asserted adichotomy between basic and applied science. This view was at the coreof the compact between government and science that led to the goldenage of scientific research after World War II--a compact that iscurrently under severe stress. In this book, Donald Stokes challengesBush's view and maintains that we can only rebuild the relationshipbetween government and the scientific community when we understand whatis wrong with that view.

Stokes begins with an analysis of thegoals of understanding and use in scientific research. He recasts thewidely accepted view of the tension between understanding and use,citing as a model case the fundamental yet use-inspired studies bywhich Louis Pasteur laid the foundations of microbiology a century ago.Pasteur worked in the era of the "second industrial revolution," whenthe relationship between basic science and technological change assumedits modern form. Over the subsequent decades, technology has beenincreasingly science-based. But science has been increasinglytechnology-base--with the choice of problems and the conduct ofresearch often inspired by societal needs. An example is the work ofthe quantum-effects physicists who are probing the phenomena ofsemiconductors from the time of the transistor's discovery after WorldWar II.

On this revised, interactive view of science andtechnology, Stokes builds a convincing case that by recognizign theimportance of use-inspired basic research we can frame a new compactbetween science and government. His conclusions have major implicationsfor both the scientific and policy communities and will be of greatinterest to those in the broader public who are troubled by the currentrole of basic science in American democracy. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

How to make science more accountable?
This book is not about antiscientism, it is about accountibality of science funding. There are several economical myths related to the state policy of basic science funding. Two of them : "..basic research is performed without thought of practical ends" and "...basic research is the pacemaker of technological progress" as well as famous Baconian "linear model",( a sequence extending from basic science to technology: basic science - applied research - development - production and operations) are dramatically reevaluated and critizied in the reviewing book. The most important implications of agruments presented in this well written book are: a) Basic science must be accountable as any other state funding activities and based on "informed judgments of research promise and social need"; b) Progress of science and technology have "semiautonomous trajectories", therefore state investment in basic research does not provide progress in the technology and economical growth. It looks like it is a good time "to end" so-called "endless frontiers" of unaccountable spending of taxpayer's money for funding useless basic science research. Everybody who is interested in the basic science funding policy must read this excellent book. It demonstrates a difference between the economical reality and propaganda of illusions. ... Read more

Book Description

Featuring rich applications and integrated coverage of graphing utilities, this hands-on trigonometry text guides students step by step, from the right triangle to the unit-circle definitions of the trigonometric functions. Examples with matched problems illustrate almost every concept and encourage students to be actively involved in the learning process. Key pedagogical elements, such as annotated examples, think boxes, caution warnings, and reviews help students comprehend and retain the material. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent book for all levels
It provides wide range of practical applications, with plain English, colorful pages, step by step from basic to advanced approach. It has got answers at the back. I recommend it`s Instructor`s solutions manual as well... ... Read more

Book Description

Alfred Tarski, one of the greatest logicians of all time, is widely thought of as "the man who defined truth."His mathematical work on the concepts of truth and logical consequence are cornerstones of modern logic, influencing developments in philosophy, linguistics and computer science. Tarski was a charismatic teacher and zealous promoter of his view of logic as the foundation of all rational thought, as well as a bon-vivant and a womanizer, who played the "great man" to the hilt. Born in Warsaw in 1901 to Jewish parents, he changed his name and converted to Catholicism, but was never able to obtain a professorship in his home country.A fortuitous trip to the United States at the outbreak of World War 1 saved his life and turned his career around, even though it separated him from his family for years. By the war's end, Tarski was established as a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he started a department in logic and methodology that attracted students and distinguished researchers from all over the world. From the cafes of Warsaw and Vienna to the mountains and deserts of California, this first full- length biography places Tarski in the social, intellectual and historical context of his times.It presents a vivid picture of a personally and professionally passionate man, interlaced with an account of his major scientific achievements. Anita Burdman Feferman is an author and biographer who has written on noted figures such as Jean van Heijenoort and Georg Kreisel. Solomon Feferman is a professor of Mathematics and Philosophy at Stanford University.Both authors were closely acquainted with Tarski and in a unique position to write about his life. ... Read more

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"""It is the aim of this book to...present the evolution of number as the profoundly human story which it is.""

¿Tobias Dantzig

""This is beyond doubt the most interesting book on the evolution of mathematics which has ever fallen into my hands. If people know how to treasure the truly good, this book will attain a lasting place in the literature of the world. The evolution of mathematical thought from the earliest times to the latest constructions is presented here with admirable consistency and originality and in a wonderfully lively style.""

¿Albert Einstein

""Tobias Dantzig's Number: The Language of Science is one of the truly great classics of mathematical exposition, perhaps the most lucid history of the number concept ever written. Its republication should be a cause for celebration by every scientifically minded person, regardless of his or her mathematical background.""

¿Eli Maor, author of e: The Story of a Number and To Infinity and Beyond

""Tobias Dantzig's Number is a classic. A fascinating account of the evolution of mathematics, it deserves a place on the bookshelf of anyone who is interested in the history of thought.""

¿Charles Seife, author of Zero and Alpha and Omega

""A classic! Anyone interested in the history of numbers and mathematics should read this book.""

¿Mario Livio, author of The Golden Ratio

From the rudimentary mathematical abilities of prehistoric man to the counterintuitive and bizarre ideas at the edges of modern math, this masterpiece of science writing tells the story of mathematics through the history of its most central concept: number.

Dantzig succeeds in his aim to reveal a human story, and in making that story accessible to the non-expert. In his friendly and welcoming style, he shows how math developed from basic faculties present in us all, beginning with our ""number sense""¿the ability to discern that an object has been added to or removed from a small collection of objects without counting. The subsequent evolution of the concept of number is inextricably linked with the history of human culture, as Dantzig demonstrates. He shows how advances in math were spurred by the demands of growing commerce in the ancient world; how the pure speculation of philosophers and religious mystics contributed to our understanding of numbers; how the exchange of ideas between cultures in times of war and imperial conquest fueled advances in knowledge; and, ultimately, how the forces of history combine with human intuition to trigger revolutions in thought.

Sweeping in scope, Number is an open doorway into the world of math. Dantzig explains the foundations of mathematics with ease, and eloquently explores deeper philosophical questions that arise along the way. He describes the properties of all kinds of numbers¿integers, primes, irrationals, transcendentals, and more. He explains the significance of zero, and shows that its invention had revolutionary consequences for arithmetic. He shows how the invention of symbols for use in algebra¿a radical departure from tradition at the time¿ushered in a new era of math; how arithmetic and geometry reflect each other; and how calculus uses infinity to model the continuity of space and time.

With a new afterword, notes section, and bibliography written by math professor and author Joseph Mazur, and a new foreword by mathematician Barry Mazur, the Masterpiece Science edition of Number¿which was first published in 1930¿is the first update of Dantzig's classic work in over fifty years. It is a story that ranges from the dawn of man to the genius of history's greatest mathematicians, vividly revealing how the pursuit of knowledge transcends the rise and fall of civilizations." ... Read more

Amazon.com

A 1996 revision of a timeless classic originally published in 1941. Highly recommended for any serious student, teacher or scholar of mathematics. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

A classic that will challenge and inspire.. A MUST HAVE!!
This book will give you a superb introduction to basic mathematics culminating in the CALCULUS. The topics and manner of presentations are excellent. I have the 1978 edition that I still use to much benefit. Things such as numbers, matrices, algebra and trig are introduced in rapid but detailed segments. If you have been away from mathematics for a while you will soon get drawn into the text and the exercises. If you are into math today this will serve as an excellent review and perhaps give you a gem or two. However, if you have been put off by math in the past you may want to approach with caution. For even though the pace is within speed limits the text does expect a good effort to reap the rewards. I recommend this book for anyone interested in the theory behind mathematics. A real jewel for your library and personal enjoyment. Just superb!

theoretically very good
This is an interesting and wide ranging book. In the main it presents, develops and explains it's ideas very well, although I did not always find it, as one reviewer, a mister Albert Einstein described it, "easily understandable". I have two minor complaints about this book:

1) Print quality
For no apparent reason the text size varies occasionally, and in places the printing is slightly blurred, so that sometimes the subscripts and superscripts on formulae are illegible. Perhaps they skimped on typesetting costs by photoreproducing formulae from the original printing?

2) Incompleteness
If you bought this book because the front cover says "...representation of the fundamental concepts and methods of the whole field of mathematics" (another A.E. quote) you may be disappointed to find this is not the case. Trigonometry, for example, is not discussed, except where it crops up in other topics such as applying calculus to trig functions.

Pretty good
For the most part I love this book. It is informative, and relatively simple to understand. This book is an "elementary approach to ideas and methods" for the whole field of mathmatics. In fact, this book is one of the reasons I changed my major to mathmatics.

However, there are two main problems with this book. First the quality of the print varies. Occasionally, whole sets of subscripts are blurred, which makes understanding the equation of the moment difficult, if not impossible.

Second, the order of steps for solving or understanding a problem are in an unexpected order, which is confusing. Often, I find that a difficult passage doesn't deal with difficult concepts, its just that the concepts are explained in an unusual way.

Aside from those problems, this is an extraordinary introduction to mathmatics.

Not an 'easy' read
This is a demanding book. One cannot read it listening to Bach. [a clash of complexities]. The construction of he book is 'old style' [which is every seeming possible variation is mentioned] which has fallen into disfavor as confusing,

That written it is very complete and I really enjoyed many parts of this book.

Extraordinary Book. Belongs on Your Bookshelf.
Courant's 500-page text is not entirely suitable for the layman. Its target audience includes those who enjoy reading and studying mathematics and have a good background through precalculus or higher. "What is Mathematics?" is a mathematics book, not a book about mathematics.

"What is Mathematics?" is not a new book. It was first published in 1941. New editions appeared in 1943, 1945, and 1947. My soft cover fourth edition by Oxford University Press is in its 12 printing.

The authors indicate that it is no means necessary to "plow through it page by page, chapter by chapter". I fully agree. I have skipped around, jumping to chapters of particular interest, but I have now read nearly every chapter.

I initially skipped to page 165 and delved directly into projective geometry (chapter IV), proceeded to topology (chapter V), and then jumped backwards to the beginning to explore the theory of numbers. After moving to geometry, I finally returned to the later chapters on functions and limits, maxima and minima, and the calculus.

Courant engages the reader in discussions on mathematical concepts rather than focusing on applications and problem solving. "What is Mathematics?" is a great textbook for students that have completed a year or more of calculus and wish to pull all of their mathematical learning together before moving on to more advanced studies. I suspect that it would even be welcomed by students that have completed an undergraduate degree in mathematics.

I cannot resist quoting Albert Einstein's comment on What is Mathematics? - "A lucid representation of the fundamental concepts and methods of the whole field of mathematics...Easily understandable."

Richard Courant was a highly respected mathematician. He taught in Germany and in Cambridge and was director of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University (now renamed the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences). Courant has authored other widely acclaimed mathematical texts including Methods of Mathematical Physics (co-authored with David Hilbert) and his popular Differential and Integral Calculus. ... Read more

Book Description

Science fiction is at the intersection of numerous fields. It is literature which draws on popular culture, and engages in speculation about science, history, and all varieties of social relations. This volume brings together essays by scholars and practitioners of science fiction, which look at the genre from different angles. It examines science fiction from Thomas More to the present day; and introduces important critical approaches (including Marxism, postmodernism, feminism and queer theory). ... Read more

Amazon.com

What do you mean there's no chapter 0? Whether or not you think that's a deficit, A History of Mathematics more than makes up for it with its depth and engaging analysis of the development of the "flawless science." Historian Carl B. Boyer designed it as a practical textbook for communicating math's complex timelines to interested college students in 1968; Uta C. Merzbach has gently revised it to bring it in line with current thought.Much of the early chapters are untouched, with new 19th- and 20th-century chapters covering Boyer's omissions and new and revised references guiding the reader to additional resources.

From the origins of numbering to the future of computing, the authors strive for comprehensive examination and clear, simple explanations.Some of the math will daunt those who have never taken college-level courses (or have forgotten what they learned), but some of the more elaborate technical material can be skipped if needed.Especially helpful is the extensive timeline-appendix that proceeds from the beginning of time to the late 20th century.Whether you're using it to gain a better understanding of mathematics or to broaden your awareness of the historical record, A History of Mathematics will help you make sense of the wide world of numbers. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Not for the serious student of history of mathematics
Boyer can write pretty well. His tendency to wax on about the virtues of the people he writes about can get annoying, but overall this probably works to make a more engaging style. This kind of writing style is entirely appropriate for a textbook designed to draw readers into the world of mathematics, but is prone to wide, sweeping generalizations and ill-supported assumptions and occasionally, factually incorrect statements.

The reader who is serious about studying the development of mathematics will learn something from this book, but there are better places to learn it. Boyer, as indicated above, seems intent on "cleaning up" history to fit the nice picture he has of it. Unfortunately, merely reciting well-known mathematical legends does more harm than good; it obscures the real process of discovery, and the way mathematics has, and still does, develop.

There are errors in the book that indicate Boyer did not do his research. To keep this review short, I'll name one: Boyer credits Poincare with the Poincare disc model of hyperbolic geometry. Anyone that has actually looked at Riemann's very important 1854 lecture (one of the most important documents of 19th century mathematics) will realize this model is due to Riemann! Since Boyer spends quite a bit of time on Riemann, this is rather puzzling.

Boyer also relies on E.T. Bell for some biographical information. No serious historian of mathematics would (or should) reference Bell for biographies of mathematicians. Bell's caricatures are entertaining, but do a disservice to the subject.

This book is only recommended for those who want to get a vague idea of the history of mathematics, but do not particularly care about the details being correct. For that purpose, Boyer does a better job than most.

The best book on history of mathematics
I first bought the firt edition about 25 years ago when I was still a matriculation student preparing the examination to university. This book has been with me for more than one fourth of a decade. I also own the second edition of the same book.
It is a pity that the new author did not take the opportunity to expand the book to a much wider scale. ( what I mean is not to a encycoplaedic but at least expand the history of mathematics in the 20 the century. Now back to the book. What makes this book different other ones, I think it is the historical intuition of Boyer makes this book eternal. Some book arrange the content chronologically and somes book arrange the content according to the topics. However, Boyer cleverly combined that two . Also, he also extinctly discuss the topics proportional to their importance in the history. There is not too much mathematics and
there is not too few mathematics, Just a few words to describe that is " that book is really well balanced " and gives you everything and also the range of audience is wide, coupled with the very very reasonable price, it is the book on mathematical history who are interested should own one.

This book tells you everything
I learned so much from this book. It's like 5 textbooks wrapped into one!

TWENTY YEARS OF BOYER
I HAVE HAD THIS BOOK AT MY BEDSIDE FOR TWENTY YEARS ..EXCEPT IT IS NOW SUPERCEDED BY A COPY OF THE MERZBACH UPDATE. i USED IT FIRST FOR AN OPEN UNIVERSITY MATH DEGREE. iT WAS FASCINATING AND USEFUL THEN. sINCE THAT TIME i HAVE DIPPED INTO IT REGULARLY AND ENJOYED THE CLARITY AND DEPTH OF ITS IDEAS. i,VE NOW BOUGHT THREE MORE COPIES FOR MEMBERS OF MY FAMILY.

Wide exposition of the development of Mathematics
In this book the historian of mathematics Carl Boyer exposes the development of mathematics from the pre-history to modern times in a wide view, covering all the important mathematics and mathematicians from ancient times to our modern times. This reviewed version by Uta Merzbach is easier to read than the first edition by Boyer and its updated. I disagree that you need to be a mathematician or so to read this, all you need is the interest. In fact when I read this book I was entering high school and I found it easy and enjoyable to read. The author will not spent any time with hard mathematics, rather he is just going to cite (so all you need to know is what thouse technical names means superficially, but you don't need to know the math undergoing). This book is very nice if you want to have a deep and wide view on the history of math, so don't think this is an ultimate guide or something. Actually I think this book can be considered as a general introduction to the history of mathematics and to mathematics itself, it will make you get used to many technical terms and their intuitive meaning before getting deep in the formal math. ... Read more

Book Description

Not since the early 1970s has there been an attempt to describe and illustrate the anatomy of the developing mouse embryo. More than ever such material is needed by biologists as they begin to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying development and differentiation. After more than ten years of painstaking work, Matt Kaufman has completed The Atlas of Mouse Development--the definitive account of mouse embryology and development.
For all those researching or studying mammalian development, The Atlas of Mouse Development will be the standard reference work for many years to come.

Key Features
* Provides a comprehensive sequential account of the development of the mouse from pre-implantation to term
* Contains clear and concise descriptions of the anatomical features relevant to each stage of development
* Large format for easy use
* Contains explanatory notes and legends, and more than 180 meticulously labeled plates, 1,300 photographs of individual histological sections, and 200 electron micrographs, illustrating:
* Intermittent serial histological sections through embryos throughout embryogenesis and organogenesis
* Differentiation of specific organs and organ systems, including the spinal cord, eyes, gonads, kidneys, lungs and skeletal system
* External appearance of intact embryos throughout development ... Read more

Amazon.com

Everybody knows the Dark Ages weren't really dark, right?Not so fast, counters archaeological journalist David Keys, maybe it's more than just a slightly judgmental metaphor.His book Catastrophe: An Investigation into the Origins of the Modern World, based on years of careful research spanning five continents, argues that sometime in A.D. 535, a worldwide disaster struck and uprooted nearly every culture then extant. Given contemporary reports of the sun being blotted out or weakened for nearly a year and a half, followed by famine, drought, and plague, it's hard not to think that so many reports from all over the world must be related.

Keys shows a keen grasp of both the written historical record from Asia, Africa, and Europe and the archaeological evidence from the Americas, and tells many tales of great havoc destroying old empires and laying the ground for new ones.Rome may have fallen, but Spain, England, and France rose in its place, while farther east, Japan and China each unified and gained strength after the chaos.Could an enormous volcanic eruption have had such influence on the world as a whole, and could the same thing happen tomorrow?Catastrophe makes no predictions, but leaves the reader with a new sense of history, nature, and destiny. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (45)

How Forces of Nature Shape Human History
"Catastrophe" refers to a mid-6th century climactic cataclysm that author David Keys believes destroyed the geopolitical status quo of late antiquity and gave birth to the protomodern era from which our current world circumstances derived. According to the hypothesis put forward in "Catastrophe", around the year 535 AD there occurred a major atmospheric disturbance that blocked out much of the Earth's sunlight all over the globe. Tree ring and ice-core evidence, as well as archeological and contemporary written accounts indicate that there was, indeed, severe climactic disruption at this time, and that it almost certainly was the result of a tremendous volcanic explosion. In "Catastrophe", David Keys describes the ways in which he believes the famine, drought and plague that resulted from this explosive event directly and indirectly led to the downfall of the contemporary political powers and the emergence of the new political entities and forces which shaped the world we live in today. As every continent was affected by the loss of sunlight, Keys hypothesizes that the fall of the Roman Empire, the emergence of Islam and the Arab and Ottoman Empires, the reshaping of Eastern Europe, the creation of the modern nations of Japan, China, and Korea in the East and the European powers in the West, the collapse of the great Mesoamerican Empire of Teotihuacan and the emergence of the Mayans, among other great shifts in power, were all indirect results of the climactic changes unleashed in 535 AD.

I find it unlikely that all of the developments that David Keys attributes to the "catastrophe" would not have occurred otherwise. While the direct consequences of a single event are predictable and substantiable, the indirect consequences of something are, of course, impossible to know for sure as there are other factors involved. How many of the developments which occurred in the centuries following the eruption of 535 AD would not have occurred, or would have occurred at a different time, or would have occurred by different means, if the climactic catastrophe had not set change in motion is impossible to say. But David Keys' point is well taken: "Forces of nature and other mechanisms" beyond human control have played -and may continue to play- a fundamental role in human history, culture, and achievements. "Catastrophe" reintroduces the concept of determinism to the discussion of human history, which has been unfashionable for a while now and is due for reconsideration by the academic community. Keys also gives the reader a nice overview of the transition from the order of late antiquity to that of protomodern nations all over the globe, which is interesting and informative regardless of what may have instigated the changes.

A New Explanation for the 535AD Catastrophe
That the Earth suffered catastrophic weather conditions starting around 535AD and lasting for many years thereafter, is becoming a scientifically accepted "fact." As explained in "Catastrophe: a Quest for the Origins of the Modern World," these conditions weakened the Eastern Roman Empire; created horrendous living conditions in the western part of Great Britain that were remembered and later incorporated into the Arthurian legend; contributed through drought in the America's to the fall of the Teotihuacan civilization in Mexico; and through flooding to the collapse of a major center of civilization in Yemen.

Almost wherever in the world that there was significant use of writing in the 6th century AD, from Constantinople to China, references to this catastrophe have shown up in contemporary documents. Many such documents are cited in this book. In the 20th century, the occurrence of the catastrophe and its worldwide impact has been confirmed by the analysis of ice-cores from Greenland and Antarctica and by the study of annual growth rings in wood from across the world that can be safely dated to the 6th century.

The author of "Catastrophe," David Keys, has a theory about the event - or closely related events - that caused of this catastrophe. I found his theory plausible and frightening. Plausible because of the way he lays out his facts, and frightening because there appears to be no reason such dramatic and devastating events could not happen occur again - in the next thousand years or in the next ten years.

Mr. Keys is an excellent writer. He certainly makes this book fully accessible to the non-scientist. He also is apparently quite well informed about both the historic and archeological record from around the world during the 6th century and for a long time afterwards. In fact, most of his book consists of plausible - usually directly climate related - explanations for all kinds of civilization collapses, barbarian migrations, and shifts in economic and political power in different parts of the world following the "event" of 535AD. These explanations are fascinating, and, as just mentioned, always plausible. On the other hand, I doubt that they can all be right, and wished that author had given a little more credit to happenstance and the decisions of individuals in shaping the "origins of the modern world."

Rethinking the Dark Ages and the Origins of the Modern World
"Catastrophe" rocketed to fame as a result of a PBS series which devoted two one hour episodes to its thesis: that an eruption of what was probably a monstrous earlier version of the volcano Krakatoa created weather disruptions and tidal phenomena which wiped out many Classical civilizations, brought on LITERAL "dark ages" in many societies, and helped to create the Medieval world and lay the foundations of the modern.

The Keys theory is so widely accepted now (just five years after the publication of the book) because it is not only backed by masses of contemporary documentary evidence, but also because it explains, better than any other theory, the global decline of civilization in the 6th Century of the Common Era. In mathematical terms, it is "elegant." It is a latter-day Occam's Razor cutting through generations of theories based upon individual cultures or isolated events to show that they could all have at their heart a single event which triggered, as the title says, global "Catastrophe." (Definitely with a capital "C"!)

Keys uses Chinese records to show that a loud bang was heard over hundreds of square miles around 535, and that this was followed by a fall of yellow ash. Other records, from Japan and parts of modern Indonesia, support this occurence. Keys, after weighing and rejecting alternative theories, suggests that only a massive volcanic eruption could be the culprit for the event recorded by the Chinese, and shows, decade by decade, using historical records, dendrochronological (tree ring) records, ice samples, and other measurements, that what happened was no ordinary eruption, but possibly the largest volcanic eruption in history, which darkened skies around the world, creating a "volcanic winter" which brought famine and plague in its wake. Amazingly, he does it in plain, easy-to-read language, a hallmark of historiographic greatness.

Keys documents major climatic disruptions and uses established scientific models to project the impact of these changes on people as diverse as the Central Asian Avar and Turkish horse nomads, East African herdsmen, South American fishermen, and Anglo-Saxon and Britannic farmers in the modern British Isles. His conclusion is stunning: the eruption triggered waves of nomadic migrations which helped to bring about the decline of the recently revived Byzantine empire (which was well on its way to reconquering much of the old Roman Empire), destroyed flourishing urban cultures in the Americas, ruined the powerful Southern Arabian kingdoms which had existed for centuries (thus creating the power vacuum later filled by Mohammad's follwers), and also wrought devastation remembered in Arthurian romances.

One of the crucial contributions which Keys has made is an explanation of the otherwise unexplainable irruption of the bubonic plague out of Africa and into the Byzantine and Indian worlds. The plague -- which spread as far as Britain and permanently ended any chance that an independent Celtic Church would be established, separate from Rome -- killed millions of then and former Romaions (inhabitants of the original Roman Empire) and blasted any hopes of re-establishing the Empire, relegating it instead into an ever-dwindling Greek-centered Eastern Empire, subject to nomadic incursions from Arabia and central Asia.

In the Americas, Teotihuacan and Tikal alike suffered from near-simultaneous climatic disruption which ended their civilizations -- contemporaneously with the decline of the great cities of the Classical Eurasian world. Only the Keys Catastrophe theory explains BOTH phenomena -- the end of urban cultures in the Americas AND in Africa-Eurasia.

In east Asia, Keys blames the super-eruption for the famines whch led to the revolt of Hou Jing, which ended southern Chinese independence and led ultimately to the establishment of the Sui Dynasty and the near-continuous unification of China as a single cultural entity since then. In 535, the very year which Keys gives for the eruption, the Korean state of Silla, probably faced with climatic turmoil and famine as bad as China's, abandoned its pagan past and adopted Buddhism, laying the groundwork for the unification of THAT country, too. Again, no other theory provides a unified explanation for the near-simultaneous events.

The Keys theory is not without its weaknesses. I have particular doubts about the Indonesian chronicles which he utilizes, but which, if authentic, indicate that the Sunda Strait is a relatively modern phenomenon, and, until 535-536, Java and Sumatra formed a super-island, dominated by an unfortuante civlization (called Holotan by the Chinese). If the records Keys uses are correct, Holotan was destroyed (along with much of the island) by the super-eruption, putting it alongside Thera as a major cultural center destroyed by a single volcano. Undeniably, however, major changes took place in Southeast Asia after 535, including the establishment of Proto-Cambodia and Proto-Thailand only one generation later, along with other, more diffuse civilizations, presumably filling the gap left by the vanished Holotan.

The Keys theory will likely be subject to much criticism in the years ahead, and further refinements, but it is already so well-established as a convenient explanation for the catastrophic events of the Sixth Century C.E. that anyone who wants to understand histories of the period being written nowadays simply MUST be familiar with "Catastrophe."

I give "Catastrophe" Five Stars, the highest rating, for its historiographic significance, ease of reading, and current impact on historical thinking.

A fascinating historical detective story
Recent years have seen the publication of several books offering radical new explanations of ancient events or presenting sweeping revisionist theories of history. Examples include Noah's Flood, Eden in the East, Voyages of the Pyramid Builders, and 1421: The Year China Discovered America.

Catastrophe is one of the best of these. Archaeological writer David Keys has assembled multiple arguments supporting his theory that a major natural disaster around the year 535 altered the world's climate for years, causing famine and plague and triggering the collapse of existing political systems. He gives us brief but well-written summaries of events that sprang from this catastrophe, including the rise of Islam. According to Keys, this event ended an old world and gave birth to a new one whose patterns we still see today. After a process of elimination, Keys proposes that the cause of this disaster was a volcano in what is now the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra. He warns that natural catastrophes in the future could change the world we know. Even if you don't agree with his conclusion, you will learn much from his reviews of historical events. This is fascinating stuff, and highly readable.

Not Catastrophic....But a Little Suspect in Places
Catastrophe, by David Keys, is an effort to attribute several significant changes in history that occurred in or near the 6th Centuary AD to drastic global weather changes, and to attribute those changes to a volcanic eruption. Keys ammasses an enormous amount of evidence to support these attributions, enough by itself to make the work impressive. However, on the whole his trail of evidence is a bit suspect.

Keys offers ample convincing evidence that the 6th century AD saw startling changes in weather. In doing so, he presents data from literally around the globe; moreover, his various sources of information seem to corroborate one another. This represents the most solid part of his argument, although he didn't tell us if he omitted evidence that didn't support his conclusions. From here, Keys proceeds to suggest what affects this weather pattern may have had on the world.

Some of these suggestions are more believable than others. His attribution of plague outbreaks to the weather patterns seems reasonable. Similarly a discussion of impacts on the Roman Empire is well argued and somewhat supported. From there, though, Keys trots about the globe presenting marginal evidence that most of the major events of the 6th Century (and some thereafter) are directly attributable to this weather pattern. In doing so, Keys includes a lot of marginal evidence and reaches for some causal relationships that are probably a lot more complicated than his book suggests. In particular, I found his version of events in the Middle East, Europe and China not so well supported.

I was a little bothered by the language and evidence of some of these chapters. Frequently, Keys uses phrases such as "almost certainly" to describe a cause-and-effect relationship, without providing any real supporting evidence. In one place, his endnote to such a comment simply repeats the "almost certainly" phrase without offering any additional information or citing a source. I think this fact really weakens the credibility of his work.

As he moves toward the end, Keys tries to pinpoint the source of the weather patterns. Toward this end, he nominates the eruption of a volcano in Java. However, in doing so, he needs to significantly re-interpret Javan historical accounts based on second and third hand sources. And while there's some limited basis for doing so, the connection is, from my point of view, far from a slam-dunk. It's easy to see that Keys left this section for the end because it's the least supported part of his chain of argument and potentially unravels the whole thesis.

On the whole, the book is an impressive projection of a lot of focused research. Sadly a lot of the evidence presented is weak in supporting Keys premise. In the end, it's easy for the reader to see that some, perhaps even a lot, of the things that Keys suggests caused major historical changes are credible. Still, a lot aren't. I give the book three stars for pulling together and presenting this information, which is in itself an impressive feat. Keys is not convincing in telling us that a volcanic eruption in 535 AD rewrote most of human history from that point on, however. Other than that, the book is interesting and fairly readable, and worth the time to take a look. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (4)

Clearly the best ancient/medieval science text that exists!
I read the Beginnings of Western Sceince as a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where I had the extreme priviledge of taking two history of science courses from the author, who is also an absolutely outstanding professor. (And also one of the two or three most knowledgeable people in the world in the history of medieval science) This is by far the most comprehensive text on the history of ancient and medieval science that is out there. You might not believe it, but there aren't even a lot of other texts that cover half of what is discussed here period, let alone any that are this polished and concise. This book not only covers the development of western science from ancient times throught the Middle Ages, but it also considers the religious, and philosophical roots of this development. This book is masterfully written in that it provides a tremendous amount of detail, and yet is accessible to anyone that is an educated and interested reader. I cannot recommend this text highly enough.

Also Recommended: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn

In his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas Kuhn discusses the importance of history and its relationship to science, the changing views of how historians view past scientific achievements, the role of scientific method in science, and the nature and foundations of scientific revolutions.

A great book by a great professor
I had to read this book because I'm currently taking a history of science class taught by the author at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and I just want to say it's excellent. It is clear, concise and (best of all from a student's point of view) not boring. It teaches you so much about looking at things in context. This is a great book from a great professor.

Lively dinner conversation with an expert.
I have read many, many histories of science, but this is far and away the best I have read.

Exceptional Class Material
I read this book as a student for my History of Scientific Thought Class. This text was an excellent addition to the course work that included discussions about scientific thinking, discovery and revolutions, Greek philosophy and nature, Medieval cosmology and it's assimilation of Plato and Aristotle. Lindberg also pictured works of art that helped discuss the science and thinking of the times. The other texts that, as a class, were discussed along with Lindberg were Leonard Schlain's Art and Physics and Arthur Koestler's The Sleepwalkers and Thomas Kuhn's THe Structure of Scientific Revolutions. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Athena Unbound
I read this book with tremendous interest. The stories it contains resonated in me or seemed to fit friends and colleagues. I have given Athena Unbound to family members upon graduation (from engineering school) and to my own women Chemistry students for graduation. I think it is important for my students to know what problems may lie before them and how they may be side-stepped. This book does a great job of outlining what these problems may be. Science is still a man's world. Forewarned is forearmed!

More like a research paper than a book
I picked this book for my engineering ethics class thinking how great it would be to read about the experience of other females in engineering. To my dismay the book was slow and repetitive. The books studies white American women in science. The data through out the book is presented in a rough research paper like format. This is not a peasant to read book. If you can identify with white American women in the scientific field, then read this book. Otherwise the focus of this book is too narrow and the authors of the book does not present any practical solutions to the problems encountered by women in the scientific field.

Great Introduction to Subject
This book is one of the best books I have read on the subject of women in science. It will appeal to the general public, who tire quickly of statistic upon statistic. Instead, this book gives a broad overview of the gender issues surrounding science and approached to resolve these issues. Should be required reading in any gender or science history class, I think, though the focus is on contemporary issues not historical documentation. ... Read more

Amazon.com

This surprising book may appear to be about the simple things of life--forks, paper clips, zippers--but in fact it is a far-flung historical adventure on the evolution of common culture. To trace the fork's history, Duke University professor of civil engineering Henry Petroski travels from prehistoric times to Texas barbecue to Cardinal Richelieu to England's Industrial Revolution to the American Civil War--and beyond. Each item described offers a cultural history lesson, plus there's plenty of engineering detail for those so inclined. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

Good Tech History book
This is a scholarly look at the history of invention. Henry Petroski is a Professor of Civil Engineering at Duke and has written several books of this genre. The book is well written, has many footnotes, and an eight page bibliography. While the book is not technical per se, it would probably be most enjoyable by other engineers and fans of technological history.
The author tracks the engineering and development of several common devices of everyday life. Two that he spends a lot of time on are the fork and the paper clip. There are several full chapters examining issues such as the first historical records of use, patents, and the development of companies and industries as these items became incredibly popular. Other items receiving lesser treatment include wheelbarrows, tin cans, and McDonalds hamburger containers.
This book will give you an appreciation of the time frame that great inventions occupy. Most of the items discussed here are developed over several lifetimes, or at least several working lifetimes. This alone should be very instructive to anyone trying to get a feel for the history of invention. The histories given are very detailed with names, dates, addresses, patent numbers and drawings, and the economic data (manufacturing costs, prices, etc.). If you find intriguing the question of where and how did we get all of the modern devices that we use everyday, you will enjoy this book.

An interesting look at the development of everyday objects
Things get improved because in their current form, they do not work properly. Henry Petroski's book, The Evolution of Useful Things, traces the development of objects in our everyday life, including detailed histories of the development of the staple, the zipper, silverware, and hand tools. The book is interesting, although Petroski does tend to shy away from offering a theory of development, and instead offers a conjectures about how things might have developed. He explains, but he does not offer a theory or an argument that explains everything. Overall, though, a goos book, well researched, well illustrated, and interesting on many levels.

Form follows failure
This book is an extended essay about the process of invention. In it, Petroski takes the viewpoint that the form of manufactured items is the result of an evolutionary-like process. He stresses that for any specific item, the form it has is only an arbitrary choice from many possible solutions that the inventor could have come up with. And the driving force behind invention, according to Petroski is failure- -each change in form that an invention takes is the result of trying to address some failure in what was done previously.

Petroski introduces the book with an item that very aptly demonstrates his thesis: the fork. He details the history of the development of the fork, starting with the table manners of the Middle Ages, when people were in the habit of using knives to both spear bits of food and convey them to their mouths. But in order to chop off bits of food from larger pieces, it was handy to have a second knife to hold the larger piece steady. Of course, the second knife was also like to put a hole in the larger piece, and wasn't well adapted to holding things, not until someone had the brilliant idea of making a stabilizing knife with two prongs instead of one. Eventually, this stabilizing knife began to be used for conveying food to the mouth instead of just holding food steady while cutting, and it was found that four prongs were much better suited for this task than two. Each step of the way through the history of the fork, Petroski points out how when the implement of the time failed to accomplish its intended task satisfactorily, its form was modified, until the fork took its present customary form. At the same time, however, Petroski also stresses that the current form of the fork is only one possible solution to the food conveyance problem. He compares its development to that of chopsticks, which are equally well suited to the same task, but take a very different form.

Other objects given a detailed examination in this book include paper clips, zippers, and cans for food, as well as openers for cans. In this last topic, Petroski brings out the point that objects are often developed and brought into use long before their supporting technology is even conceived of. Although tin cans came into general use during the first half of the Nineteenth Century, it was to be another 50 years before the first can opener was finally developed. Until then, producers of canned foods expected their customers to open their cans by stabbing them with hammer and chisel and (miraculously) come back for more!

Overall, I found the book somewhat interesting, and certainly illuminating. While I agree that form does follow failure in many cases, I think that Petroski is too quick to dismiss aesthetic influences in the evolution of form. He notes that some forks in modern tableware sets have only 3 tines out of a desire to look different or special, even though they aren't as efficient at conveying food as 4-tined forks. But he dismisses this as being a minor factor, unimportant for the general evolution of the fork. Perhaps he is right in the case of forks, but there are a number of other items where fashion plays a larger role. High-heeled shoes, for instance, are certainly an evolutionary wrong-turn in foot attire, but not a dead end. Colored cars are wasteful in the mass production process, as Henry Ford was quick to point out, but he learned that color options are also a selling point. Indeed, many times a better solution for achieving a task can be invented, but then never brought to market because of economics. Or the form that finally does become standard is a less than optimal solution for the task, but cheaper to manufacture than a better one. Petroski points to tableware sets with over 200 individual items, each with a separate task. He argues that each item was developed in response to some perceived failure of another form at doing the stated task, and dismisses the idea that it was simply manufacturers trying to develop new things for consumers to buy so that they would have a complete set. Personally, I'm not so sure that the manufacturers really depended entirely on failure to develop the forms of their tableware. I find it easy to imagine an artist being asked to come up with some more fancy designs that could be created in silver so that customers would have more items to purchase. Perhaps some of these new silver utensils received their titles only after they were actually created and tested to see what they might be good at. In short, I think that economics may have a stronger influence on the form of things than Petroski seems willing to grant in this book. But in any case, the book is very well researched and documented. It is amply illustrated with black-and-white photos and drawings. The text itself flows smoothly and is quite clear for general and technical readers alike although it can be a bit dry at times.

A Lucid Primer on Industrial Design for Everyday Folks
How does everyday discontent lead to material progres? Does form follow function? What are some common mistakes in patent writing? The Evolution of Everyday Objects, explores the hidden history of axes, spoons, paperclips, garbage bags,tin cans, and zippers for a general audience. Henry Petroski, a professor of industrial design at Duke University, also introduces unlikely heroes like Walter Hunt (the safety pin) Richard Drew (Scotch tape), and Jacob Rabinow (pick-proof lock) while celebrating the marvels of engineering and industrial design.
This lucid primer weaves a weird and wonderful tale of techincal evolution and expanding consumerism. Petroski argues that disappointment with available choices inspires inventors, engineers, and industrial designers to continually expand our consumer choices. Form, contrary to rumors, follows failure. Edison's edict seems more apt than ever.
Petroski focuses on the telling details behind both familiar success stories and the far more frequent failures of consumer objects and modern artifacts. Although this 288-page paperback lacks illustrations and might seem a bit repeative and/or simplistic to specialists, Petroski's book should appeal to aspiring inventors, engineering students, and curious readers seeking a better understanding of our modern consumer culture. You might even look at your cluttered desk, a crowded department store, and your crammed tool shed with more appreciation.

A little dry, but worthwhile
Petroski's field is design, but his take on it is the history of design rather than the "science" of design as Donald Norman (of The Design of Everyday Things fame). Although their approach is different, the two men share some of the same insights into how and why objects are the way they were. But where Norman's philosophy is that an object can be designed to be "better," Petroski feels that an object will always be less than perfect. His theory, in part, is that because most objects have multiple purposes, the object can not perform any single task perfectly. This idea of the competition of purposes is best illustrated from the book by Petroski's examination of eating utensils. The perfect utensil would be one that could cut and lift food to the mouth for eating. But knifes that cut have difficulty in lifting, forks are almost useless with a soup, and a spoon doesn't cut well. By showing us the evolution of the flatware selection (which remains imperfect), Petroski gives weight to his theory.

But I'm not wholly convinced. Perhaps it's because I read Norman first that I want to defend him. I want to believe that objects can be bettered--an interface can be easier to use, etc. The difference between Norman and Petroski is also one of style. Norman's prose is almost light weight compared to the dense, multi-syllabic approach used by Petroski, and Norman wasn't afraid to use terms and ideas that were not in lay usage. It could be that Norman's short columnar structure breaks up the duty of trying to convey so much information that his is more readable prose. It could also be that Petroski likes the language of academia, even when it begins to obfuscate. From the design standpoint, both authors are worthwhile. It is important to see specific examples of real world solutions to design problems to come up with ideas for our own designs, be it a fork, a building, or software. ... Read more

Book Description

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this book applies Godel's seminal contribution to modern mathematics to the study of the human mind and the development of artificial intelligence. ... Read more

Reviews (197)

Multi-faceted Thesis
Ancient runic languages scrawled onto South Pacific stones. Gödel's Incompleteness Theorum. Shifted perspectives in artistic pencil pictures. Modern artificial intelligence research. Masterpieces of Baroque harmony.
It's not often that bestselling books manage to link all of the above items in a highly satisfying blend of fact and philosophy, but Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid defies both convention and classification.
The book is such a sprawling, wide-ranging argument that it's difficult to know where to start. Personally, I most enjoyed the chapters on the location of meaning within symbols; Hofstadter's description of the essential elements of a message's structure caught my interest because it seemed applicable in many fields: literature, cryptography, and psychology, to start. I was also quite intrigued by his exploration of the brain's mode of operation: sense impressions stored as complex 'symbols.' Fascinating. The long sections on mathematics and the often goofy dialogue chapters were trying, yes, but persevere; better parts lie in store.
Hofstadter's case is best made when he follow a topic through many disciplines. Though I ultimately disagree with his position on the feasibility of artificial intelligence, he has produced a stimulating read, and I am thankful for it. It is far superior to my other late-night literary conquest of the summer (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) and I recommend it to anyone with pondering time to spare.
Oh, and as a side note: don't buy Yudkowsky's review. Nothing personal, but this isn't the only thinking man's book out there. It just investigates so many nooks and crannies that almost anyone can find something to further pursue.

Essential reading
GEB is a great jumping point into issues of the philosophy of the mind, the underpinnings of mathemetical logic and the possibility of artificial intelligence and consciousness.

The book explores a number of themes - one of the most important is joining together disparate forms of 'strange loops' - paradoxical self referential constructs that pop up in in art (Escher and Bach fugues), mathematics (Godel's theorem), religion (Zen buddhism), AI and various other places.

I agree with another reviewer - everything in GEB leads towards an understanding the mind (Hofstadter's field is of course AI/cog science) - it's not just a random romp - but it's a misleading exagerration to say GEB is trying to provide a bottom-up theory!

It is true, some of the foundations of AI such as propositional logic are explored and various metaphors for the mind are developed as well as the importance of circular self-referentiality, and emergence of complex behavior from simple primitives - but the implications for AI and cognitive science are always rather vague and the HOW is mostly left as an open-ended question.

This open-endedness perhaps contributes to the rambling feeling of the book. Of course these questions are great mysteries and it's not surprising that GEB doesn't provide a neat theory to tie it all together.

At it's size it is a rather daunting book to read in one go, but since a lot of chapters are rather independent it is possible to dip into it from time to time, i find myself picking it up occasionally and re-reading random chapters, usually i notice something new to ponder on.

For me the most unique contribution of this book is the pointing out the importance of 'strange loops' in so many areas of thought (although they're never formally defined). I found myself constantly linking this idea to other things - for example Jacques Derrida's notion of deconstruction seems to me most easily understood as about creating a linguistic strange-loop to point out the limitations of language and philosophy itself.

I don't think the book has really dated much at all the central ideas are timeless and AI and cognitive science haven't advanced to a point that invalidates anything, although Fermat's theorem has now been solved.

A wonderful read for all aspiring thinkers
The Atlanta Journal Constitution describes Gödel, Escher, Bach (GEB) as "A huge, sprawling literary marvel, a philosophy book, disguised as a book of entertainment, disguised as a book of instruction." That is the best one line description of this book that anybody could give. GEB is without a doubt the most interesting mathematical book that I have ever read, quickly making its place into the Top 5 books I have ever read.
The introduction of the book, "Introduction: A Musico-Logical Offering" begins by quickly discussing the three main participants in the book, Gödel, Escher, and Bach. Gödel was a mathematician who founded Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem, which states, as Hofstadter paraphrases, "All consistent axiomatic formulations of number theory include undecidable propositions." This is what Hofstadter calls the pearl. This is one example of one of the recurring themes in GEB, strange loops.
Strange loops occur when you move up or down in a hierarchical manner and eventually end up exactly where you started. The first example of a strange loop comes from Bach's Endlessly rising canon. This is a musical piece that continues to rise in key, modulating through the entire chromatic scale, ending at the same key with which he began. To emphasize the loop Bach wrote in the margin, "As the modulation rises, so may the King's Glory."
The third loop in the introduction comes from an artist, Escher. Escher is famous for his paintings of paradoxes. A good example is his Waterfall; Hofstadter gives many examples of Escher's work, which truly exemplify the strange loop phenomenon.
One feature of GEB, which I was particularly fond of, is the 'little stories' in between each chapter of the book. These stories which star Achilles and the Tortoise of Lewis Carroll fame, are illustrations of the points which Hofstadter brings out in the chapters. They also serve as a guidepost to the careful reader who finds clues buried inside of these sections. Hofstadter introduces these stories by reproducing "What the Tortoise Said to Achilles" by Lewis Carroll. This illustrates Zeno's paradox, another example of a strange loop.
In GEB Hofstadter comments on the trouble author's have with people skipping to the end of the book and reading the ending. He suggests that a solution to this would be to print a series of blank pages at the end, but then the reader would turn through the blank pages and find the last one with text on it. So he says to print gibberish throughout those blank pages, again a human would be smart enough to find the end of the gibberish and read there. He finally suggests that authors need to write many pages more of text than the book requires just fooling the reader into having to read the entire book. Perhaps Hofstadter employs this technique.
GEB is in itself a strange loop. It talks about the interconnectedness of things always getting more and more in depth about the topic at hand. However you are frequently brought back to the same point, similarly to Escher's paintings, Bach's rising canon, and Gödel's Incompleteness theorem. A book, which is filled with puzzles and riddles for the reader to find and answer, GEB, is a magnificently captivating book.

A readable Mobius strip
If you have never read this book, then I'd like to say that it has a lot of the most greatest knowledge out there. It doesn't just deal with math, art, and music, but also with zen, philosophy, self-ref, self-rep, holism, reductionism, and everything else that is considered pure knowledge of cognitive science and general intelligence. I don't know why some of the people rating it have no idea of what's it about; it's not about Godel's theorem like many think it is, it's about consciousness and how the power of the mind and the "I" comes out of the inanimate matter that creates us. That's not it, the second part of the book talks about computer programming and AI. Can a computer program ever have a sense of self or compose meaningful music? Hofstadter's response to the second one was: "Only if that AI could go through the maze of life on it's own, fighting it's way through it and feeling the cold of a chilly night, the longing for a cherished hand, the inaccessibility of a distant town, the regenaration after a human death, the...and only then can it be considered to do so."
This book really has more than that. I can't say all of the things mentioned in it, not in this tiny little review, but I can say that you should probably read it and hopefully understand it because it truly is a masterpiece.

Pseudo-science at best
I quite agree with the reviewer from East Hartford. Maybe I am not extremely eligible to comment on the portions dealing with Escher and Bach, respectively (I have no appetite for Escher. I like chamber music of Bach and somtimes play his keyboard music but my performance level is, of course, that of amateur.)
But I must say the part dealing with Gödel's Theorem of Incompleteness is *complete garbage*. I am convinced anyone with a degree of mathematics will agree with me: for those who have no background in mathematics, I assure you that Gödel's theorem concerns a problem in "formal logic" and has nothing to do with human-cogno-something.
If this book were meant to be a cult literature, that would be okay: I don't care anyway.
But if this is meant to be an entertainment for people with no scientific background, I rate this alchemy or pseudo-science at best. ... Read more

Book Description

Twenty five years ago, it didn't exist. Today, twenty million people worldwide are surfing the Net. Where Wizards Stay Up Late is the exciting story of the pioneers responsible for creating the most talked about, most influential, and most far-reaching communications breakthrough since the invention of the telephone.

In the 1960's, when computers where regarded as mere giant calculators, J.C.R. Licklider at MIT saw them as the ultimate communications devices. With Defense Department funds, he and a band of visionary computer whizzes began work on a nationwide, interlocking network of computers. Taking readers behind the scenes, Where Wizards Stay Up Late captures the hard work, genius, and happy accidents of their daring, stunningly successful venture. ... Read more

Reviews (47)

Great intro. to the Internet,
I'm reading a series of technology-history books at the moment, this one, 'The Triumph of Ethernet' and 'how the Web was born'. This is definitely the place to start - a clear, fast paced tale of the various characters behind networked computers in late 1960's and 70's. Essentially this book describes the origin of human computer interfacing which became networking theory in the North East United States in the late 1950's and '60s.
The first computer network was called ARPANET, an outcome of inspired technology-development policy from ARPA -the Advanced Research Projects Agency, a part of the Defense Dept. The story is laid out chronologically without too much techspeak, and brings up a number of questions.
One question that seemed clearer to me at the end of the book was that ARPANET was the first mover towards internetworked computers, but from the story it is clear that it was a series of hardware computers which acted as 'routers' of information and that the heartbeat of the internet, as we have come to know it, is the communications protocol [called TCP/IP, specified by Vint Cerf, among others] which allowed the various messages to be interpreted by the different computers. TCP/IP and Cerf are almost incidental to this book, which is a pity.
Other topics covered are the initiation and development of E-mail and how the non-hierarchical, informal communications process among academics came to be the spirit of communications in the internet as a whole - something which is not altogether obvious from its origins in the Defense Dept. For me, the other big revelation was the speed of the adoption of the internet (even in days before the World Wide Web) and how the originators of the ARPANET were happy to allow it to be made obsolete by technological development. No one mentioned in this book seemed to want to (or know how to) commericialize the technology which they were working so feverishly to implement.
For those of a technical persuasion there are plenty of references to the various papers which moved the various technologies forward. This book is a great first taste for those who want to dip into the subject, gives a realistic description of the 'wizards' who had the weird and wacky ideas which we now rely on , and the text includes enough 'beef' to indicate how to dig deeper into the detail.

Enthralling History of the Internet's Origin
This book gives you the complete story behind the conception and birth of the internet. The story focuses on the work done by BBN to pioneer and develop all of the protocols and designs that are the internet. The book does a good job of laying the foundation of where the state of computing was when these initial developments were being made and what outside social and economic trends effected and encouraged the internet's development. The authors do a very good job of focusing on the personalities, anecdotes and larger issues without getting bogged down in minutiae. At 265 pages, the book is packed and makes for a very quick read. The writing style of Ms. Hafner and Mr. Lyon is outstanding, which greatly increases the quality of the book.

There are some very interesting aspects of the development that are related. I was very interested in the origins of BBN, their background in acoustics, and the zeal with which they pursued the original DARPA contract. Of equal interest was the method in which the teams were managed, and the way that the development was not pursued with large teams and brute force, but rather with smaller teams that were headed by the best possible people and given all of the resources that they needed. The creation of the internet is an awe-inspiring event, and the text offers several subtle management lessons that are too important to be overlooked. The book also does a splendid job of showing some of the theory that was used in the development of the necessary software and how the developers did such a good job of bridging theory and practical engineering development. In this light the book does a much better job discussing theory than two other recent books on the history of the Computer, "Engines of the Mind" by Shurkin and "Computer" by Campbell-Kelly and Aspray. These are just some of the interesting stories told, the whole text is packed cover to cover with similar stories.

I highly recommend this book.

Great book on the history of the internet
This was an excellent account of how the internet was created and how both ARPA and distributed networking has shaped what we use now everyday.. This book provided an excellent account of what the founders of the internet had to deal with in order to design what we have today..

This is a great read and provides a great reference for all who use and depend on the internet...

A good book about the history of the net
This book tells about how the Internet as we know it today has come into existence.

In February 1966 Bob Taylor who was employed by the Advanced Research Project Agency located in the Pentagon, was in charge of three non-networked computer terminals, each terminal running a different operating system. Communications between the terminals was at that point in time impossible. Taylor set out to explore a way to get the three computers to talk to each other.

The political climate at the time was such that the Russians have launched sputnik into space (1957). President Eisenhower began ARPA as a research and development agency to rival the Soviet's advances in technology.

ARPA's mission was to find a way for (government-sensitive) information withstand an attack (from the Soviets) on the Pentagon.

Paul Baran joined ARPA. He was working on a way "to build communications structures whose surviving components could continue to function as a cohesive entity if the other pieces were destroyed."

Baran diagramed 3 kinds of networks in a paper he wrote. The three networks were, centralized, de-centralized and distributed.

Baran had another idea. To send information over the network, he suggested that the messages themselves be fractured. This was formulated into packet-switching.

Special computers had to be constructed in order to uses packet-switching. The software form these computers was build by a company called BBN. The hardware of the machines known as IMPs was built by Honeywell.

In the beginning there were four nodes on the network. Over time the amount of nodes grew to 115 - until senstive government nodes claimed their own network, MIILNET.

Through funding, the National Science Foundation helped get many more colleges and universities on the network.

MOST EXCELLENT FOR NON-WONKS
Lots of information is conveyed with excellent editing making this book a very fast read. But AT&T's 6-year opposition to distributed processing is as appropriately treated -- without comment -- as the telegram sent by Senator Edward Kennedy's office to Boston-based BBN Corportation when the latter landed ARPA's contract for the Interface Message Processor: "Congratulations on your contract to build the Interfaith Message Processor."

This book's a beauty. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In the mid-1860s, after countless centuries of bearing the fruit that would become wine, French grapevines began to wither and die in ever increasing numbers and no one knew why. It started in southeastern France, in the Rhone Valley, as Christy Campbell tells the tale in his masterful The Botanist and the Vintner. Within 30 years the inexorable rolling disaster that was the phylloxera infestation had reached into every nook and cranny of France's wine making regions, destroying nearly all. Everywhere the wine grape grew--England, Spain, Italy, Germany, Eastern Europe, and even Australia--phylloxera appeared and took no prisoners. Except for American grape vines. The little bug didn't seem to have much taste for the skunky wines of native American grapes.

Christy Campbell, British journalist and, if The Botanist and the Vintner is any example, master storyteller, waltzes the reader into the middle of a fascinating tale of discovery and combat and never stops dancing. The book reads like a detective novel, a page-turner you can't put down. And it's about a bug, phylloxera, a root-sucking aphid that absolutely wiped clean the grand vineyards of France and thrived in defiance of both peasant remedy and all that "modern" science could bring to bear.

The modern science of the time, mind you, included debating Darwin's new theory of evolution. So it's really at the beginning of discovery and scientific technique. Despite a French government prize of 300,000 gold francs for a remedy, it took 30 years and more to pinpoint the reason for the vineyard die-off, and a practical way of defeating the organism. Grafting onto American rootstock – a rootstock that was the initial cause of the disaster – won the day though not the reward.

Campbell both begins and ends his tale in California's Napa Valley, where phylloxera once again raised its nasty little head toward the end of the 20th century, about 100 years after the struggle in France. It cost millions of dollars to bring the bug to bear. But this time part of the solution turned in a transgenic direction which is, of course, a threat with a completely different vintage. --Schuyler Ingle ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Victory Over the Aphids
Legendary French wines were almost wiped out when the vines that produced their grapes withered in the nineteenth century.The problem was one that has become familiar; our capacity to ship species from one continent to another has meant that we can have much more variety in our plants and animals, but it also endangers the homebodies that have to meet the newcomers.In _The Botanist and the Vintner: How Wine Was Saved for the World_ (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill), Christy Campbell writes that in the 1840s, trade in grape vines proceeded with "no barriers, no inspectorate, no concept of biological quarantine."The result was that tiny aphids with an extraordinary life cycle made their entry from America into France, and found the sap of the French grape vines exactly to their liking.Campbell has told the story of this disaster much like a mystery, and indeed, the vintners who saw their vines rapidly wither had no idea what was happening.A voracious caterpillar had threatened their plants two decades before, and a fungus had come shortly afterwards, but no one had seen a pattern of vine death like this one, with the leaves rapidly drying and curling up.There were only guesses about what was going on; too much rain, smoke in the air or iron in the soil from locomotives, and even emanations from telegraph lines were held to be responsible.Perhaps it was as simple as soil erosion or bad weather.No one knew.

The problem was an aphid usually called phylloxera.It took a long time to finger this particular culprit for many reasons, among which was that the tiny insect was not found on the dead vines.The simple explanation was that the aphids sucked all the sap they could out of the roots of the plant, and with nothing further to eat, moved on.Eventually, entomologists worked out the confusing life cycle of the aphid, which included several different forms of adults, some laying eggs on leaves, some laying eggs on the roots, and others having flying sexual forms.The aphids had been brought to France from America.The aphids and the American vines had long ago drawn a truce; aphids still infested the plants, but the plant developed mechanisms to keep alive through the assault, and the aphids settled in to feeding steadily off the living rather than killing the plants outright.The French vines had no such protection, so the aphids sucked them dry and moved on.Before finding an elegant solution to the problem, vintners simply had to pull up the dead vines and start growing something else, but that did not keep them from trying fanciful remedies, especially when the government offered a reward.Some proposed setting vials of holy water from Lourdes among the withering vines.Putting potatoes or frogs into the soil to draw away the poison had equal effect.Snail slime was championed, as were marching bands and a "beating wheelbarrow."Insecticides were useless.The problem had come from America, and the solution was from America as well.The solution was to use the root stocks of the American vines (vines which bore grapes the French considered vastly inferior), but to graft upon them the French vines which had been cultivated for centuries.

Campbell has told an enthralling story of science at work.It is a true success story, but attempts to controlnature seldom result in total or permanent success.The final section of his book reveals that outbreaks continue to occur and that the insects can develop new strains to which the old solution does not apply.Perhaps the rootstocks can be immunized.Perhaps, in these days of genetic modification, the genes from American vines that co-evolved with the phylloxera could be somehow inserted into the French varieties.GM wines are probably inevitable.The wine world used its wits to battle one pest successfully a century ago, but there will be others, and the story is not all told yet.
... Read more

Book Description

WE KNOW THE GMAT
The experts at The Princeton Review take the GMAT year after year to make sure you get the most up-to-date, thoroughly researched book possible.This book contains a comprehensive review of the math skills tested on the GMAT, as well as the techniques you'll need for success on the test.

WE KNOW STUDENTS
Each year we help more than two million students score high with our courses, bestselling books, and award-winning software:

WE GET RESULTS
Students who take our six-week GMAT course have an average score increase of 80 points (verified by International Communications Research).The proven techniques that we teach in our courses are in this book.

AND IF IT'S ON THE GMAT MATH SECTIONS, IT'S IN THIS BOOK
The Princeton Review knows that acing the math sections of the GMAT is very different from earning a 4.0 in business school.We don't try to teach you everything there is to know about math--only the techniques that you need to score high on the computer-adaptive GMAT.In GMAT Math Workout, we'll teach you how to think like the test makers and:

*Eliminate answer choices that look right but are planted to fool you
*Crack tough algebra problems by plugging in numbers in place of letters
*Master essential geometry concepts by memorizing a few key formulas
*Use process of elimination to solve tricky Data Sufficiency problems

Study our techniques and strategies and practice on the more than 220 problems included in this book.These practice questions are just like the ones you'll see on the actual GMAT, and we fully explain every answer. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Only if you only need math review
I'm a GMAT tutor with 10+ years of successful students. Here's what I suggest for the GMAT:

1. Use the Kaplan CD (as cheesy as the presentation is, the tests are very good). I've heard complaints that the prep tests from Kaplan are too hard, and I have to disagree with the point being made by these students. The only way, on a computer-adaptive test, to increase your score is to test using HARDER, not easier problems. I may kick ass at medium level questions, but unless I want a medium level score, practicing at a lower level hurts rather than helps. The Princeton Review Verbal Workout does not come with a CD.

2. Ignore the Kaplan book. Use The Princeton Review books (either Cracking the GMAT or GMAT Workouts for Math and Verbal) for tricks and psychology. Try the Official Guide for extra problems and basic review issues (but use as much of the Princeton psychology as you can -- the Official Guide encourages you to do the problems straight, and that's a huge waste of time). The Princeton tests are buggy for sure (Hello! Princeton Review! Fix this!) but are still fairly accurate.

3. Take as many practice tests as you can. That means Kaplan, Princeton Review, PowerPrep. Arco, Barrons, Petersons, and Dummies are all awful. Don't bother with their instruction or their tests. On Princeton Review and PowerPrep, knock 30 points off your score, just to be safe.

4. Check out your local library. Many public libraries have crazy collections of old, out of print Official Guides, chock full o paper-and-pencil tests going back a good 20 years. By all means, use these -- they're a goldmine of practice questions.

Good luck!

Loved it!
I love this book. Out of the seven I bought, including books by Kaplan, Barron's and ETS, this book was by far the best. 16 years after my last math class, I scored a 720. It was simple, easy to follow and covered the hardest math the GMAT can throw at you, without forgetting the basics (I didn't even remember how to add fractions). It was a lifesaver. I highly recommend it.

Good at explaining some concept but full of errors!
While the book was good explaining many concepts and refreshing me, I had a hard time since it was full of typos. I have been out of college for a while and bought this book just to refresh myself on mathematical concepts. I've always had a very strong grasp on mathematics and just needed to glance over some concepts. I found the book good at explaining many concepts, but the reason I felt compelled to write a review is because there are numerous critical errors in the book. For example, in laying out a basic rule for students to memorize, the book mistakenly writes that an Odd X Odd = Even. There are also several instances where the answer provided does not match the answer's explanation. But an even bigger mistake in the book is where the author provides an incorrect answer and explains why it is correct. It was the wrong answer! I would definitely recommend that you use another source in addition to this book.

Look for other review books
I would definitely not recommend this book. If you have taken any math classes since 3rd grade, you will not need this book. The problem are way too easy and the conceptual discussions gloss over too much. There are better books out there to prepare you for the GMAT.

mastering skills
This book does what it sets out to do, namely give you a GMAT Math work out. This book attempts to teach people some of the techniques needed to answer GMAT Math questions. It's really meant to be a supplement to their main GMAT Prep book. I found the techniques taught in the book to be helpful, particularly the section on answering word problems and problems where the answer choices are left in a variable form.

Yes, the problem sets are easy, but I think the point of this book is to get the techniques down. After all, GMAT Math is difficult not because of the breadth of Mathematics it covers, but because of the tricky answer choices and the multiple ways of answering a question. Better to master test-taking skills on easy questions than to stare blankly at a difficult question.

In spite of a few typographical errors and cheap quality paper, I do recommend this book for those looking to supplement their test taking skills, as this won't help you learn the Math, just the skills to take the test... ... Read more