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From Zero To Infinity
''From Zero to Infinity: What Makes Numbers Interesting'' is a book in popular mathematics and number theory by Constance Reid. It was originally published in 1955 by the Thomas Y. Crowell Company. The fourth edition was published in 1992 by the Mathematical Association of America in their MAA Spectrum series. A K Peters published a fifth "Fiftieth anniversary edition" in 2006. Background Reid was not herself a professional mathematician, but came from a mathematical family that included her sister Julia Robinson and brother-in-law Raphael M. Robinson. She had worked as a schoolteacher, but by the time of the publication of ''From Zero to Infinity'' she was a "housewife and free-lance writer". She became known for her many books about mathematics and mathematicians, aimed at a popular audience, of which this was the first. Reid's interest in number theory was sparked by her sister's use of computers to discover Mersenne primes. She published an article on a closely related top ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Popular Mathematics
Popular mathematics is the presentation of mathematics to an aimed general audience. The difference between recreational mathematics and popular mathematics is that recreational mathematics intends to be fun for the mathematical community, and popular mathematics intends to make mathematical knowledge known by the general audience. Some popularization methods are mathematical books which require no mathematical background, and in other cases involves social interaction to raise awareness. There are several reasons to popularize mathematics or promote mathematics, but it is indeed the most difficult academic discipline to popularize. History Research by historians of mathematics has shown the existence of a tradition of popularization dating back at least to the Middle Ages, and we can even consider ''The Sand Reckoner'', in the 3rd century BC, as the first example of a mathematical text intended for a non-mathematician. The popularization of science has accompanied the pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Binary Representation
A binary number is a number expressed in the base-2 numeral system or binary numeral system, a method of mathematical expression which uses only two symbols: typically "0" (zero) and "1" (one). The base-2 numeral system is a positional notation with a radix of 2. Each digit is referred to as a bit, or binary digit. Because of its straightforward implementation in digital electronic circuitry using logic gates, the binary system is used by almost all modern computers and computer-based devices, as a preferred system of use, over various other human techniques of communication, because of the simplicity of the language and the noise immunity in physical implementation. History The modern binary number system was studied in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries by Thomas Harriot, Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz, and Gottfried Leibniz. However, systems related to binary numbers have appeared earlier in multiple cultures including ancient Egypt, China, and India. Leibniz was specifically ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Partition (number Theory)
In number theory and combinatorics, a partition of a positive integer , also called an integer partition, is a way of writing as a sum of positive integers. Two sums that differ only in the order of their summands are considered the same partition. (If order matters, the sum becomes a composition.) For example, can be partitioned in five distinct ways: : : : : : The order-dependent composition is the same partition as , and the two distinct compositions and represent the same partition as . A summand in a partition is also called a part. The number of partitions of is given by the partition function . So . The notation means that is a partition of . Partitions can be graphically visualized with Young diagrams or Ferrers diagrams. They occur in a number of branches of mathematics and physics, including the study of symmetric polynomials and of the symmetric group and in group representation theory in general. Examples The seven partitions of 5 are: * 5 * 4 + 1 * 3 + ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Figurate Number
The term figurate number is used by different writers for members of different sets of numbers, generalizing from triangular numbers to different shapes (polygonal numbers) and different dimensions (polyhedral numbers). The term can mean * polygonal number * a number represented as a discrete -dimensional regular geometry, geometric pattern of -dimensional Ball (mathematics), balls such as a polygonal number (for ) or a polyhedral number (for ). * a member of the subset of the sets above containing only triangular numbers, pyramidal numbers, and their analogs in other dimensions. Terminology Some kinds of figurate number were discussed in the 16th and 17th centuries under the name "figural number". In historical works about Greek mathematics the preferred term used to be ''figured number''. In a use going back to Jacob Bernoulli's Ars Conjectandi, the term ''figurate number'' is used for triangular numbers made up of successive integers, tetrahedral numbers made up of successi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diophantine Equation
In mathematics, a Diophantine equation is an equation, typically a polynomial equation in two or more unknowns with integer coefficients, such that the only solutions of interest are the integer ones. A linear Diophantine equation equates to a constant the sum of two or more monomials, each of degree one. An exponential Diophantine equation is one in which unknowns can appear in exponents. Diophantine problems have fewer equations than unknowns and involve finding integers that solve simultaneously all equations. As such systems of equations define algebraic curves, algebraic surfaces, or, more generally, algebraic sets, their study is a part of algebraic geometry that is called ''Diophantine geometry''. The word ''Diophantine'' refers to the Hellenistic mathematician of the 3rd century, Diophantus of Alexandria, who made a study of such equations and was one of the first mathematicians to introduce symbolism into algebra. The mathematical study of Diophantine problems that Di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fermat's Last Theorem
In number theory, Fermat's Last Theorem (sometimes called Fermat's conjecture, especially in older texts) states that no three positive integers , , and satisfy the equation for any integer value of greater than 2. The cases and have been known since antiquity to have infinitely many solutions.Singh, pp. 18–20. The proposition was first stated as a theorem by Pierre de Fermat around 1637 in the margin of a copy of '' Arithmetica''. Fermat added that he had a proof that was too large to fit in the margin. Although other statements claimed by Fermat without proof were subsequently proven by others and credited as theorems of Fermat (for example, Fermat's theorem on sums of two squares), Fermat's Last Theorem resisted proof, leading to doubt that Fermat ever had a correct proof. Consequently the proposition became known as a conjecture rather than a theorem. After 358 years of effort by mathematicians, the first successful proof was released in 1994 by Andrew Wiles and form ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pythagorean Theorem
In mathematics, the Pythagorean theorem or Pythagoras' theorem is a fundamental relation in Euclidean geometry between the three sides of a right triangle. It states that the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares on the other two sides. This theorem can be written as an equation relating the lengths of the sides ''a'', ''b'' and the hypotenuse ''c'', often called the Pythagorean equation: :a^2 + b^2 = c^2 , The theorem is named for the Greek philosopher Pythagoras, born around 570 BC. The theorem has been proven numerous times by many different methods – possibly the most for any mathematical theorem. The proofs are diverse, including both geometric proofs and algebraic proofs, with some dating back thousands of years. When Euclidean space is represented by a Cartesian coordinate system in analytic geometry, Euclidean distance satisfies the Pythagorean relation: the squared dist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Equinumerous
In mathematics, two sets or classes ''A'' and ''B'' are equinumerous if there exists a one-to-one correspondence (or bijection) between them, that is, if there exists a function from ''A'' to ''B'' such that for every element ''y'' of ''B'', there is exactly one element ''x'' of ''A'' with ''f''(''x'') = ''y''. Equinumerous sets are said to have the same cardinality (number of elements). The study of cardinality is often called equinumerosity (''equalness-of-number''). The terms equipollence (''equalness-of-strength'') and equipotence (''equalness-of-power'') are sometimes used instead. Equinumerosity has the characteristic properties of an equivalence relation. The statement that two sets ''A'' and ''B'' are equinumerous is usually denoted :A \approx B \, or A \sim B, or , A, =, B, . The definition of equinumerosity using bijections can be applied to both finite and infinite sets, and allows one to state whether two sets have the same size even if they are infinite. Georg Cantor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galileo
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was born in the city of Pisa, then part of the Duchy of Florence. Galileo has been called the "father" of observational astronomy, modern physics, the scientific method, and modern science. Galileo studied speed and velocity, gravity and free fall, the principle of relativity, inertia, projectile motion and also worked in applied science and technology, describing the properties of pendulums and "hydrostatic balances". He invented the thermoscope and various military compasses, and used the telescope for scientific observations of celestial objects. His contributions to observational astronomy include telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus, observation of the four largest satellites of Jupiter, observation of Saturn's rings, and an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Square Number
In mathematics, a square number or perfect square is an integer that is the square (algebra), square of an integer; in other words, it is the multiplication, product of some integer with itself. For example, 9 is a square number, since it equals and can be written as . The usual notation for the square of a number is not the product , but the equivalent exponentiation , usually pronounced as " squared". The name ''square'' number comes from the name of the shape. The unit of area is defined as the area of a unit square (). Hence, a square with side length has area . If a square number is represented by ''n'' points, the points can be arranged in rows as a square each side of which has the same number of points as the square root of ''n''; thus, square numbers are a type of figurate numbers (other examples being Cube (algebra), cube numbers and triangular numbers). Square numbers are non-negative. A non-negative integer is a square number when its square root is again an intege ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Primality Test
A primality test is an algorithm for determining whether an input number is prime. Among other fields of mathematics, it is used for cryptography. Unlike integer factorization, primality tests do not generally give prime factors, only stating whether the input number is prime or not. Factorization is thought to be a computationally difficult problem, whereas primality testing is comparatively easy (its running time is polynomial in the size of the input). Some primality tests prove that a number is prime, while others like Miller–Rabin prove that a number is composite. Therefore, the latter might more accurately be called ''compositeness tests'' instead of primality tests. Simple methods The simplest primality test is ''trial division'': given an input number, ''n'', check whether it is evenly divisible by any prime number between 2 and (i.e. that the division leaves no remainder). If so, then ''n'' is composite. Otherwise, it is prime.Riesel (1994) pp.2-3 For example, c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sieve Of Eratosthenes
In mathematics, the sieve of Eratosthenes is an ancient algorithm for finding all prime numbers up to any given limit. It does so by iteratively marking as composite (i.e., not prime) the multiples of each prime, starting with the first prime number, 2. The multiples of a given prime are generated as a sequence of numbers starting from that prime, with constant difference between them that is equal to that prime.Horsley, Rev. Samuel, F. R. S., "' or, The Sieve of Eratosthenes. Being an account of his method of finding all the Prime Numbers,''Philosophical Transactions'' (1683–1775), Vol. 62. (1772), pp. 327–347 This is the sieve's key distinction from using trial division to sequentially test each candidate number for divisibility by each prime. Once all the multiples of each discovered prime have been marked as composites, the remaining unmarked numbers are primes. The earliest known reference to the sieve ( grc, κόσκινον Ἐρατοσθένους, ''kóskinon Erat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
