777 Mathematical Conversation Starters (Spectrum Series)
777 Mathematical Conversation Starters shows that there are few degrees of separation between mathematics and topics that provoke interesting conversations. The topics presented in this unique book are accessible to mathematicians and non-mathematicians alike. They include thought-provoking conversation starters such as: the value of fame; why language matters; the anatomy of thought; how we know what we know; how the Pythagorean theorem (with very little physics) shows that Einstein was...
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Illustrated book showing that there are few degrees of separation between mathematics and topics that provoke interesting conversations. Science News - Ivars Peterson "Instructive, amusing, proactive, and insidiously addictive, 777 Mathematical Conversation Starters serves up ample fodder for feeding mathematics into classroom discussions or even cocktail-party chatter."
Civility\ [1] Civility (which is required in good conversation) implies that all parties listen and that all parties are allowed to speak. But civility is not a natural state, it is acquired. Therefore, skills of conversation are difficult to learn and to exercise especially in the face of disagreement. When confronted with an unsettling idea or opinion, it is challenging to offer either a better idea or an objective rebuttal.
PrefaceLegendSamplerCivilityWhat is Bad Conversation?What is Good Conversation?Conversation Starters: A Sampler You Don't Need to Be a Mathematician for TheseYou Might Want to Be a Mathematician for TheseIs the cow on the Cover Saying "Mew" or "Moo"?A Aardvark Abstraction Algebra Analytic Geometry Anatomy of Thought: the Implication "P Implies Q" = "Sufficient Implies Necessary" Examples Anvil Willie and the Monkey's Uncle Example 1 The Foreign Accent Example 2 Writing, Erasing, Quickly Example 3 Blocking the Board Arithmetic Astronomy Author Axiom of Choice Axioms and Definition Critical Thinking Shermer's Ten Rules for Baloney Detection Definitions for the Scientist Definitions for the Non-Scientist Thomas Kahn and the Value of Definition Kuhn's 22 Definitions of "Paradigm" Alan Sokal's Puckish Hoax Importance of Alan Sokal's Concerns Three Rebuttals to Alan Sokal's Hoax The Arrogance of Scientists Now for Some Irony: Bell's Valuable Blunder Three Examples of Unavoidable Ambiguity Aristotle and Avoidable Ambiguity Radius of Reality: Humpty Dumpty and BeyondB The Brain BoreC Calculus Certainty Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle Common Sense Computers Mathematics-The Hidden Engine Programming and the Machine Extending Collective Memory Inventions with Minds of Their Own Embellishing Collective Memory: Apollo 13, April 1970 System Error Haiku CountingD Deduction vs. Induction Definitions for Induction and Deduction Popular Synonyms for Inductive and Deductive Reasoning Inductive Reasoning Deductive Reasoning Examples of Induction/Deduction Popper's Falsifiability Test in Scientific Method Aristotole and Testing Wittgenstein vs. Popper: The Poker Debate Reliability of Eye-Witness AccountsE Einstein Elegance Ocean's Razor (Ockham's Razor) Epsilon There's a Delta for Every Epsilon (Calypso) Equations Euclid Euler ExperimentsF Faith, Religion, and Spirituality Formulas Four Color Problem Frustration and PleasureG Geometry Gilbert and Sullivan Parodies Periodic Table of the Elements I Am the Very Model of a Doctor of Philosophy Good MathematicsH Hair Hilbert HumilityI-J I's and J's Infinity Innocence Inquiry and Research Integers and Dimension: Beyond Our Reach? Integers and Fractions Toggling Integrals Intuition: Examples That Challenge Algebra: Swimmer's Problem Algebra: The Potato Paradox Calculus: The Celestial Horn with Infinite Area, Finite Volume Calculus: Fable of the Good Queen's Napkin Rings Probability: con Mises' Birthday Poem Probability: Monty Hall Problem Switching as a Toggling Strategy Geometry: An Expanding Belt for the Earth's Waistline Iteration/RecursionK Klein Bottle KnowledgeL Laplace Logic and Reason Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem The Gödel Box Analogy is Not ProofM Mathematicians Are Amusing, Different, Underappreciated Mathematicians Are Highly Skilled Mathematicians are Underskilled Mathematics and Art Mathematics and Beauty Mathematics and Music Mathematics and Nature Mathematics and Poetry Mathematics and Truth Mathematics and Usefulness/Relevance Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics Bayes' Theorem and Spacious Reasoning Mathematics Is An Art Mathematics Is Economical/Not Economical Mathematics Is Eternal Mathematics Is Immutable Mathematics Is Logical: (Deductive) Mathematics Is Madness/Addictive/Irrelevant Mathematics Is Simplifying/Unifying Mathematics Is Wide in Scope Mathematics Is Youthful Method Time Management Test for a Mathematician Metric Maxims Möbius StripN Natural Base Natural Numbers Newton Normal SpaceO Obvious Offensive and Unpopular MathematicsP Paradox The Amazing Banach-Tarski Paradox Physicists Pi Mnemonics for the Digits of Pi Play Prime Numbers Mersenne Primes Principles in Mathematics Probability Stephen Jay Gould on the Awesome Continuity of Life Probability vs. Determinism Problem Solving Mark Twain Encounters a Word Problem from Arithmeticus Progress Is Progress Monotonically Increasing? Scientists on Inevitability of Progress Progress: The Evolving Value of Carrots Will Technology Go Awry? Proof Pythagorean Theorem APPLICATION 1: The Pizza Connection APPLICATION 2: Breaking the Bonds of Three Dimensions APPLICATION 3: Pythagorean Theorem in Special Relativity APPLICATION 4: Michelson-Morley's Valuable Failure Other Views on the Speed of LightQ Q.E.D. Made EasyR Reality-Platonism RelativityS Science Sets Statistics Style Symbols Decimal Notations SystemsT Teaching Teaching That Fame is a Worthy Achievement The R.L. Moore Method Thinking Topology Transcendental Numbers Transfinite NumbersU Units University Denizens UsefulnessV Valentine's Virus Vocabulary Von Neumann and the FlyW Washington WienerX-Y-Z X ZeroNote: The Starlight CaféIndex of Topics and AuthorsIndex of Cartoons
\ Ivars Peterson"Instructive, amusing, proactive, and insidiously addictive, 777 Mathematical Conversation Starters serves up ample fodder for feeding mathematics into classroom discussions or even cocktail-party chatter."\ —Science News\ \ \ \ \ Philip J. Davis"It is a honey of a book..it is an excellent Xmas present for graduate students to give their thesis advisers (or vice-versa). It is a gold mine for quips for after-dinner speeches. College presidents should consult it before making their decennial site visits to the math department. 777 Mathematical Conversation Starters could relieve mathematical melancholy better than Prozac. It even poses unsolved mathematical problems that neither you nor the science reporters for The New York Times have hear about." \ —Siam News\ \
