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Gaudi's dream which will be reached finalizing the construction of the "Sagrada Familia" in Barcelona, the victory of the Swiss sail boat "Alinghi", which won America's Cup, films such as " A Beautiful Mind" and "Enigma", the theatrical play based on the life of Galois, the images of the Dutch graphic artist M. C. Escher, crypotography, comics. What all these topics have in common? Mathematics, of course. This book focuses on the important role of mathematics in culture. It shows how very complex links between mathematics and culture can be not only interesting and stimulating but also fun.
List of contents
Mathematicians.- Ennio De Giorgi Remembered.- X Day, the Greats of 20th Century Science: Ennio De Giorgi.- Mathematics and Comics.- Writing Mathematics in Comics.- Madmatics.- Mathematics and Secret Codes.- A 16th Century Cryptographic Treatise: Agostino Amadi's Zifre, Between Humanistic Culture and Practical Mathematics.- Mathematics from War to Peace: Operations Research.- Mathematics and Cinema.- Turing and the Enigma.- Mathematics and Medicine.- Computer Simulation and Visualization.- From Butterflies to Microchips: How Biology in the Third Millennium Aspires to Mathematics.- Mathematics and Images.- Mathematical Images and the Image of Mathematics.- A Beautiful Mind: A Film by Ron Howard, a Book by Sylvia Nasar.- Mathematics and Applications.- Mathematics and Industry.- Researching Viable Scientific Approaches to Marine Ecosystems.- Mathematics and Architecture.- Gaudí Innovator.- Mathematics and Theatre.- My Galois.- Mathematics and Poetry.- Encounters.- Lament.- Mathematics and Mysticism.- The Kabbalah and the Mysticism of Words.- Mathematics in the Ocean.- When Mathematics Goes Sailing (in America's Cup).- Mathematics and Escher.- The Mathematical Structure of Escher's Print Gallery.- Animating M.C. Escher.
Summary
Gaudi’s "Sagrada Familia" in Barcelona, the America's Cup victory of the Swiss sail boat "Alinghi", films such as "A Beautiful Mind" and "Enigma", the theatrical play based on the life of Galois, the images of the Dutch graphic artist M. C. Escher, crypotography, comics. What do all these have in common? Mathematics, of course. Many recent films, plays and books have explored mathematical themes. This book, whose aim is the popularization of mathematics, comprises a series of accounts which demonstrate in these cultural contexts that mathematics is a vibrant and intriguing subject for the non-specialist. In the same spirit, other contributions cover mathematics in art, architecture, cryptography, and the medical and physical sciences.
Additional text
From the reviews:
"The series collects together the proceedings of an annual conference on Mathematics and Culture held in Italy. … and they are well written. … There are … some very interesting pieces on some themes, and these will be of interest and use to those who wish to read about those particular themes. For this purpose, the books should be available at mathematical public libraries." (Gizem Karaali, MathDL, May, 2007)
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From the reviews:
"The series collects together the proceedings of an annual conference on Mathematics and Culture held in Italy. ... and they are well written. ... There are ... some very interesting pieces on some themes, and these will be of interest and use to those who wish to read about those particular themes. For this purpose, the books should be available at mathematical public libraries." (Gizem Karaali, MathDL, May, 2007)
