The Mathematician's Brain poses a provocative question about the world's most brilliant yet eccentric mathematical minds: were they brilliant because of their eccentricities or in spite of them? In this thought-provoking and entertaining book, David Ruelle, the well-known mathematical physicist who helped create chaos theory, gives us a rare insider's account of the celebrated ...(展开全部)

Archimedes to Hawking takes the reader on a journey across the centuries as it explores the eponymous physical laws-from Archimedes' Law of Buoyancy and Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle and Hubble's Law of Cosmic Expansion-whose ramifications have profoundly altered our everyday lives and our understanding of the universe. Throughout this ...(展开全部)

Praise for William Dunhams Journey Through Genius The Great Theorems of Mathematics "Dunham deftly guides the reader through the verbal and logical intricacies of major mathematical questions and proofs, conveying a splendid sense of how the greatest mathematicians from ancient to modern times presented their arguments." —Ivars Peterson Author, The Mathematical Tourist Mathemat...(展开全部)

Psychologists have long been aware that most people maintain an irrationally positive outlook on life. Tali Sharot—one of the most innovative neuroscientists at work today—takes this a step further. Optimism, she shows, may in fact be crucial to our existence. In this absorbing exploration, Sharot takes an in-depth, clarifying look at • how the brain generates hope and what ...(展开全部)

From one of the most innovative neuroscientists at work today, an investigation into the bias toward optimism that exists on a neural level in our brains and plays a major part in determining how we live our lives. Psychologists have long been aware that most people maintain an often irrationally positive outlook on life. In fact, optimism may be crucial to our existence. Tali...(展开全部)

This is the story of our quest to understand the most mysterious object in the universe: the human brain. Today we tend to picture it as a computer. Earlier scientists thought about it in their own technological terms: as a telephone switchboard, or a clock, or all manner of fantastic mechanical or hydraulic devices. Could the right metaphor unlock the its deepest secrets once ...(展开全部)

Computers are ubiquitous yet to many they remain objects of irreducible mystery. This text looks at the question of how today's computers can perform such a variety of tasks if computing is just glorified arithmetic. The author illustrates how the answer lies in the fact that computers are essentially engines of logic and that their hardware and software embody concepts develop...(展开全部)

The author of The Joy of Mathematics explores the mathematics of nature, literature and art. This fascinating look at the surprising ways mathematics influences the everyday world takes an abstract universe and anchors it to the "real" worlds of science, history and the arts in an intriguing way. Photos and line drawings.

For thousands of years, thinkers and scientists have tried to understand what the brain does. Yet, despite the astonishing discoveries of science, we still have only the vaguest idea of how the brain works. In The Idea of the Brain, scientist and historian Matthew Cobb traces how our conception of the brain has evolved over the centuries. Although it might seem to be a story of...(展开全部)

A powerful examination of what we think we know about the brain and why — despite technological advances — the workings of our most essential organ remain a mystery. For thousands of years, thinkers and scientists have tried to understand what the brain does. Yet, despite the astonishing discoveries of science, we still have only the vaguest idea of how the brain works. In The ...(展开全部)