SEDUCED BY MATHEMATICS

Seduction is not just an end result, but a process — and in mathematics, both the end results and the process by which those end results are achieved are often charming and elegant.

This helps to explain why so many people — not just those for whom math plays a key role in their day-to-day lives — have found mathematics so seductive. Math is unique among all subjects in that it contains end results of amazing insight and power, and lines of reasoning that are clever, charming, and elegant. This book is a collection of those results and lines of reasoning that make us say, 'OMG, that's just amazing,' — because that's what mathematics is to those who love it. In addition, some of the stories about mathematical discoveries and the people who discovered them are every bit as fascinating as the discoveries themselves.

This book contains material capable of being appreciated by students in elementary school — as well as some material that will probably be new to even the more mathematically sophisticated. Most of the book can be easily understood by those whose only math courses are algebra and geometry, and who may have missed the magic, enchantment, and wonder that is the special province of mathematics.

Contents:

• Seduced by Numbers
• Seduced by Arithmetic
• Seduced by Patterns
• Seduced by Analytic Geometry
• Seduced by Mathematical Induction (and How to Avoid It)
• Seduced by Calculus I
• Seduced by Complex Numbers
• Seduced by Infinite Series
• Seduced by Probability
• Seduced by Infinity
• Seduced by Computers
• Seduced by a Few of My Favorite Things

Readership: General public, mathematics teachers at the elementary and secondary levels.

Key Features:

• This book is a collection of the OMG moments that make mathematics so appealing to so many. It includes examples that can be appreciated by young children, and most of the examples in the book can be understood by those whose only mathematical background are high-school level courses in algebra and geometry
• It is a book written not only to appeal to the believers (those who find mathematics attractive), but to make converts of those who aren't