New Books in Mathematics
Episodes
Satyan Devadoss, "Mage Merlin's Unsolved Mathematical Mysteries" (MIT Press, 2020)
13 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There are very few math books that merit the adjective ‘charming’ but Mage Merlin's Unsolved Mathematical Mysteries (MIT Press, 2020) is one of th...
Cailin O’Connor, "Games in the Philosophy of Biology" (Cambridge UP, 2020)
10 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The branch of mathematics called game theory – the Prisoners Dilemma is a particularly well-known example of a game – is used by philosophers, soc...
B. Fong and D. I. Spivak, "An Invitation to Applied Category Theory: Seven Sketches in Compositionality" (Cambridge UP, 2019)
08 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Category theory is well-known for abstraction—concepts and tools from diverse fields being recognized as specific cases of more foundational structu...
Ben Cohen, "The Hot Hand: The Mystery and Science of Streaks" (Custom House, 2020)
25 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For decades, statisticians, social scientists, psychologists, and economists (among them Nobel Prize winners) have spent massive amounts of precious t...
Brian Greene, "Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe" (Random House, 2020)
02 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Brian Greene is a Professor of Mathematics and Physics at Columbia University in the City of New York, where he is the Director of the Institute for S...
sarah-marie belcastro, "Discrete Mathematics with Ducks" (CRC Press, 2018)
29 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Introductory courses in discrete mathematics cover a variety of distinctive but interconnected topics, from the underpinnings of logic and set theory ...
Leslie M. Harris, "Slavery and the University: Histories and Legacies" (U Georgia Press, 2019)
28 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Slavery and the University: Histories and Legacies (University of Georgia Press, 2019), edited by Leslie M. Harris, James T. Campbell, and Alfred L. B...
Alex Berke, "Beautiful Symmetry: A Coloring Book about Math" (MIT Press, 2020)
22 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Alex Berke's Beautiful Symmetry (MIT Press, 2020) is both a fascinating book and a concept -- it's like no other book I’ve ever read. It's a colorin...
Paul Nahin, "Hot Molecules, Cold Electrons" (Princeton UP, 2020)
03 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Hot Molecules, Cold Electrons: From the Mathematics of Heat to the Development of the Trans-Atlantic Telegraph Cable (Princeton University Press, 2020...
Matt Cook, "Sleight of Mind: 75 Ingenious Paradoxes in Mathematics, Physics, and Philosophy" (MIT Press, 2020)
30 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Paradox is a sophisticated kind of magic trick. A magician's purpose is to create the appearance of impossibility, to pull a rabbit from an empty hat....
Maureen T. Carroll and Elyn Rykken, "Geometry: The Line and the Circle" (MAA Press, 2018)
26 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
From an undergraduate perspective, coming from the rigid proofs and concrete constructions of middle- or high-school courses, the broad discipline of ...
Phillipa Chong, “Inside the Critics’ Circle: Book Reviewing in Uncertain Times” (Princeton UP, 2020)
25 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How does the world of book reviews work? In Inside the Critics’ Circle: Book Reviewing in Uncertain Times (Princeton University Press, 2020), Philli...
K. Linder et al., "Going Alt-Ac: A Guide to Alternative Academic Careers" (Stylus Publishing, 2020)
30 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re a grad student facing the ugly reality of finding a tenure-track job, you could easily be forgiven for thinking about a career change. How...
Christopher J. Phillips, "Scouting and Scoring: How We Know What We Know About Baseball" (Princeton UP, 2019)
29 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The so-called Sabermetrics revolution in baseball that began in the 1970s, popularized by the book—and later Hollywood film—Moneyball, was suppose...
Brian Clegg, "Conundrum: Crack the Ultimate Cipher Challenge" (Icon Books, 2019)
28 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The book we are discussing is by Brian Clegg, a well-known author of books on math and science -- but this is not exactly a book on math or science, a...
David Spiegelhalter, "The Art of Statistics: How to Learn from Data" (Basic, 2019)
13 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Today's guest is distinguished researcher and statistician, Sir David Spiegelhalter. A fellow of the Royal Society, he is currently Chair of the Winto...
Gary Meisner, "The Golden Ratio: The Divine Beauty of Mathematics" (Race Point Press, 2018)
22 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
From the pyramids of Giza, to quasicrystals, to the proportions of the human face, the golden ratio has an infinite capacity to generate shapes with e...
Julian Havil, "Curves for the Mathematically Curious" (Princeton UP, 2019)
15 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Today I talked to Julian Havil about his latest book Curves for the Mathematically Curious: An Anthology of the Unpredictable, Historical, Beautiful, ...
Margaret E. Schotte, "Sailing School: Navigating Science and Skill, 1550-1800" (Johns Hopkins UP, 2019)
14 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Throughout the Age of Exploration, European maritime communities bent on colonial and commercial expansion embraced the complex mechanics of celestial...
Kathryn Conrad on University Press Publishing
03 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
As you may know, university presses publish a lot of good books. In fact, they publish thousands of them every year. They are different from most trad...
J. Neuhaus, "Geeky Pedagogy: A Guide for Intellectuals, Introverts, and Nerds Who Want to Be Effective Teachers" (West Virginia UP, 2019)
24 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The things that make people academics -- as deep fascination with some arcane subject, often bordering on obsession, and a comfort with the solitude t...
David Lindsay Roberts, "Republic of Numbers: Unexpected Stories of Mathematical Americans through History" (Johns Hopkins UP, 2019)
17 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The institutional history of mathematics in the United States comprises several entangled traditions—military, civil, academic, industrial—each of...
Alfred S. Posamentier, "Tools to Help Your Children Learn Math" (WSPC, 2019)
16 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Our guest today is Al Posamentier, the lead author of Tools to Help Your Children Learn Math (WSPC, 2019). Helping your children with math is one of t...
Davide Crippa, The Impossibility of Squaring the Circle in the 17th Century" (Birkhäuser, 2019)
28 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
From 1667 to 1676, a pivotal controversy played out among several mathematical luminaries of the time, partly in the proceedings of the Royal Society ...
Chris Bernhardt, "Quantum Computing for Everyone" (MIT Press, 2019)
02 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Today I talked with Chris Bernhardt about his book Quantum Computing for Everyone (MIT Press, 2019). This is a book that involves a lot of mathematics...
Discussion of Massive Online Peer Review and Open Access Publishing
19 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In the information age, knowledge is power. Hence, facilitating the access to knowledge to wider publics empowers citizens and makes societies more de...
Kartik Hosanagar, "A Human’s Guide to Machine Intelligence: How Algorithms Are Shaping Our Lives" (Viking, 2019)
12 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Our guest today is Kartik Hosanagar, the author of A Human’s Guide to Machine Intelligence: How Algorithms Are Shaping Our Lives and How We Can Stay...
Andrew C. A. Elliott, “Is That a Big Number?” (Oxford UP, 2018)
09 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Andrew C. A. Elliott‘s Is That a Big Number? (Oxford University Press, 2018) is a book that those of us who feast on numbers will absolutely adore,...
Eli Maor, “Music by the Numbers: From Pythagoras to Schoenberg” (Princeton UP, 2018)
18 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Most of us have heard of the math-music connection, but Eli Maor’s Music by the Numbers: From Pythagoras to Schoenberg (Princeton University Press, ...
Vicky Neale, “Closing the Gap: The Quest to Understand Prime Numbers” (Oxford UP, 2017)
12 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Today I talked to Vicky Neale about her new book Closing the Gap: The Quest to Understand Prime Numbers (Oxford University Press, 2017). The book deta...
Alfred Posamentier et. al., “The Joy of Mathematics: Marvels, Novelties, and Neglected Gems That Are Rarely Taught in Math Class” (Prometheus Books, 2017)
16 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The book discussed here is the The Joy of Mathematics (Prometheus Books, 2017), whose lead author, Alfred Posamentier, is our guest today. The subtitl...
Brian Clegg, “Big Data: How the Information Revolution Is Transforming Our Lives” (Icon Books, 2017)
19 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Big Data: How the Information Revolution Is Transforming Our Lives (Icon Books, 2017), by Brian Clegg, is a relatively short book about a subject that...
Brian Clegg, “The Reality Frame: Relativity and Our Place in the Universe” (Icon Books, 2017)
29 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Brian Clegg is one of England’s most prolific and popular writers on science. His latest work, The Reality Frame: Relativity and Our Place in the Un...
Oscar Fernandez, “The Calculus of Happiness” (Princeton UP, 2017)
11 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The book discussed here is entitled The Calculus of Happiness: How a Mathematical Approach to Life Adds Up to Health, Wealth, and Love (Princeton Univ...
David Danks, “Unifying the Mind: Cognitive Representations as Graphical Models” (MIT Press, 2014)
15 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
For many cognitive scientists, psychologists, and philosophers of mind, the best current theory of cognition holds that thinking is in some sense comp...
Raffi Grinberg, “The Real Analysis Lifesaver: All the Tools You Need to Understand Proofs” (Princeton UP, 2017)
15 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
If ever there were a course that needs a book like Raffi Grinberg’s The Real Analysis Lifesaver: All the Tools You Need to Understand Proofs (Prince...
Matthew L. Jones, “Reckoning with Matter: Calculating Machines, Innovation, and Thinking about Thinking from Pascal to Babbage” (U. Chicago Press, 2016)
23 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Matthew L. Jones’s wonderful new book traces a history of failed efforts to make calculating machines, from Blaise Pascal’s work in the 1640s thro...
Brian Clegg, “Are Numbers Real? The Uncanny Relationship of Mathematics and the Physical World (St. Martin’s Press, 2016)
04 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Brian Clegg’s Are Numbers Real? The Uncanny Relationship of Mathematics and the Physical World (St. Martin’s Press, 2016) is a compact, very reada...
Ian Stewart, “Calculating the Cosmos: How Mathematics Unveils the Universe” (Basic Books, 2016)
29 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The book discussed here is Ian Stewart’s Calculating the Cosmos: How Mathematics Unveils the Universe (Basic Books, 2016). If you would like to read...
Alfred Posamentier and Stephen Krulik, “Effective Techniques to Motivate Mathematics Instruction” (Routledge, 2016)
01 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
From the title, you might guess that Alfred Posamentier and Stephen Krulik’s Effective Techniques to Motivate Mathematics Instruction (Routledge, 20...
Alfred S. Posamentier and Robert Geretschlager, “The Circle: A Mathematical Exploration Beyond the Line” (Prometheus Books, 2016)
11 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Alfred S. Posamentier and Robert Geretschlager, The Circle: A Mathematical Exploration Beyond the Line (Prometheus Books, 2016) goes considerably beyo...
Beineke and Rosenhouse, eds., “The Mathematics of Various Entertaining Subjects: Research in Recreational Math” (Princeton UP, 2015)
23 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Jennifer Beineke and Jason Rosenhouse‘s new book The Mathematics of Various Entertaining Subjects: Research in Recreational Math (Princeton Universi...
Adam Kucharski, “The Perfect Bet: How Science and Math Are Taking the Luck Out of Gambling” (Basic Books, 2016)
31 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Kucharski, who won the 2012 Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize, has delivered another winner in an area rife with both winners and losers. The ...
James D. Stein, “L.A. Math: Romance, Crime, and Mathematics in the City of Angels” (Princeton UP, 2016)
24 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Romance. Crime. Mathematics. These things do not go together. Or do they? James D. Stein thinks they do, and he admirably shows us how in his wonderfu...
Lynn Gamwell, “Mathematics and Art: A Cultural History” (Princeton UP, 2015)
05 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Today I’m talking with Lynn Gamwell about Mathematics and Art: A Cultural History (Princeton University Press, 2015). This book is a breathtaking co...
Brian Clegg, “How Many Moons Does the Earth Have? The Ultimate Science Quiz Book” (Icon Books, 2015)
07 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Brian Clegg, who is arguably the most prolific science writer since Isaac Asimov, and almost certainly the most prolific British one, has written a de...
Dan Bouk, “How Our Days Became Numbered: Risk and the Rise of the Statistical Individual” (U of Chicago Press, 2015)
23 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Who made life risky? In his dynamic new book, How Our Days Became Numbered: Risk and the Rise of the Statistical Individual (University of Chicago Pre...
John Allen Paulos, “A Numerate Life” (Prometheus Books, 2015)
12 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
John Allen Paulos, who has accomplished the unheard-of double of writing best-sellers about mathematics and inserting a word (‘innumeracy’) into t...
Arthur Benjamin, “The Magic of Math” (Basic Book, 2015)
30 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’ll be talking about The Magic of Math (Basic Books, 2015)by Arthur Benjamin. This is a book that has the gee-whiz feeling you got when you ...
Margaret Morrison, “Reconstructing Reality: Models, Mathematics, and Simulations” (Oxford UP, 2015)
15 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Almost 400 years ago, Galileo wrote that the book of nature is written in the language of mathematics. Today, mathematics is integral to physics and c...
Christopher J. Phillips, “The New Math: A Political History” (U of Chicago Press, 2015)
26 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Christopher J. Phillips‘ new book is a political history of the “New Math,” a collection of curriculum reform projects in the 1950s & 1960s that...
Colin Adams, “Zombies and Calculus” (Princeton UP, 2014)
15 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
The book discussed in this interview is Zombies and Calculus (Princeton University Press, 2014) by Colin Adams. This is a truly unique book; a no...
Jordan Ellenberg, “How Not To Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking” (Penguin Press, 2014)
08 Jul 2014
Contributed by Lukas
The book discussed in this interview is How Not To Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking (Penguin Press, 2014), by Jordan Ellenberg. This is...
Sue VanHattum, “Playing with Math: Stories from Math Circles, Homeschoolers, and Passionate Teachers” (Natural Math, 2015)
26 Jun 2014
Contributed by Lukas
[Re-published with permission from Inspired by Math] Sue VanHattum is a math professor, blogger, mother, author/editor, and fundraiser. She’s a real...
Al Cuoco and Joe Rotman, “Learning Modern Algebra: From Early Attempts to Prove Fermat’s Last Theorem” (MAA, 2013)
20 Jun 2014
Contributed by Lukas
[Re-published with permission from Inspired by Math] The MAA (Mathematical Association of America) sent me a review copy of their new book Learning Mo...
David Reimer, “Count Like an Egyptian: A Hands-on Introduction to Ancient Mathematics” (Princeton UP, 2014)
09 Jun 2014
Contributed by Lukas
[Re-posted with permission from Sol Lederman’s Wild About Math] I love novel ways of looking at arithmetic. I’m fascinated with how computers co...
Peter Gardenfors, “The Geometry of Meaning: Semantics Based on Conceptual Spaces” (MIT Press, 2014)
09 Jun 2014
Contributed by Lukas
A conceptual space sounds like a rather nebulous thing, and basing a semantics on conceptual spaces sounds similarly nebulous. In The Geometry of Mean...
Oscar E. Fernandez, “Everyday Calculus: Discovering the Hidden Math All around Us (Princeton UP, 2014)
17 Apr 2014
Contributed by Lukas
The book discussed in this interview is Everyday Calculus: Discovering the Hidden Math All around Us (Princeton University Press, 2014) by Oscar ...
Michael Strevens, “Tychomancy: Inferring Probability from Causal Structure” (Harvard UP, 2013)
15 Apr 2014
Contributed by Lukas
When we’re faced with a choice between Door #1, Door #2, and Door #3, how do we infer correctly that there’s an equal chance of the prize being be...
Tim Chartier, “Math Bytes: Google Bombs, Chocolate-Covered Pi, and Other Cool Bits in Computing” (Princeton UP, 2014)
08 Apr 2014
Contributed by Lukas
[Re-posted with permission from Wild About Math] My favorite kind of math challenges are those that children can understand and professional mathema...
Chuck Adler, “Wizards, Aliens, and Starships: Physics and Math in Fantasy and Science Fiction” (Princeton UP, 2014)
14 Feb 2014
Contributed by Lukas
[Re-posted with permission from Wild About Math] I’ve admitted before that Physics and I have never gotten along. But, science fiction is something...
Eli Maor and Eugen Jost, “Beautiful Geometry” (Princeton UP, 2014)
11 Feb 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Beautiful Geometry (Princeton UP, 2014), by the mathematician prof. Eli Maor and the noted artist Eugen Jost. It’s a fascinating collaboratio...
Edward Frenkel, “Love and Math: The Heart of Hidden Reality” (Basic Books, 2013)
08 Nov 2013
Contributed by Lukas
The book discussed in this interview is Love and Math: The Heart of Hidden Reality Basic Books, 2013) by Edward Frenkel of the University of Californi...
Colm Mulcahy, “Mathematical Card Magic: Fifty-Two New Effects” (A K Peters, 2013)
26 Sep 2013
Contributed by Lukas
[Re-posted with permission from Wild About Math] I had the pleasure of interviewing mathematician and mathematical card magic innovator Colm Mulcahy....
Brian Clegg, “Dice World: Science and Life in a Random Universe” (Icon Books, 2013)
04 Jun 2013
Contributed by Lukas
The book discussed in this interview is Dice World: Science and Life in a Random Universe (Icon Books, 2013), by Brian Clegg, an acclaimed British wri...
Leonard Wapner, “Unexpected Expectations: The Curiosities of a Mathematical Crystal Ball” (A.K. Peters, 2012)
06 May 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Today I talked to Leonard Wapner about his new book Unexpected Expectations: The Curiosities of a Mathematical Crystal Ball (A.K. Peters, 2012). Pr...
Lance Fortnow, “The Golden Ticket: P, NP, and the Search for the Impossible” (Princeton UP, 2013))
02 Apr 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’ll be discussing Lance Fortnow‘s bookThe Golden Ticket:P, NP, and the Search for the Impossible (Princeton University Press, 2013).The bo...
Leila Schneps and Coralie Colmez, “Math on Trial” (Basic Books, 2013)
13 Mar 2013
Contributed by Lukas
You may well have seen “Numb3rs,” a TV show in which mathematicians help solve crimes. It’s fiction. But, as Leila Schneps and Coralie Colmez sh...
Catherine Jami, “The Emperor’s New Mathematics: Western Learning and Imperial Authority During the Kangxi Reign (1662-1722)” (Oxford UP, 2012)
19 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Challenging conventional modes of understanding China and the circulation of knowledge within the history of science, Catherine Jami‘s new book look...
Roger Hart, “The Chinese Roots of Linear Algebra” (Johns Hopkins UP, 2011)
27 Jul 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Roger Hart‘s The Chinese Roots of Linear Algebra (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011) is the first book-length study of linear algebra in imperial...