A01=Paul Nahin
Almost surely
Approximation
Astronomer
Author_Paul Nahin
Availability
Bisection
Calculation
Capability
Casemate
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Category=PDZM
Chromosphere
Clothing
Convex function
Corona
Curve
Cycloid
Derivative
Diameter
Doppler effect
Eclipse
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Fermat's Last Theorem
Garret
Geometry
Gravity
Inex
Inner core
Isoperimetric problem
Iteration
Linear programming
Magnetic field
Mathematician
Mathematics
Measurement
Methodology
Outwork
Parameter
Parametric equation
Partial pressure
Path of least resistance
Pejorative
Point source
Polygon
Precalculus
Precedent
Prediction
Privation
Quantity
Ray (optics)
Reason
Rectangle
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Requirement
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Right angle
Scattering
Self-consciousness
Simplex algorithm
Sincerity
Snell's law
Social science
Solution
Special case
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Summation
Temperature
The Other Hand
Theory
Vertex angle
Vulnerability
Wavelength
Zodiacal light
Product details
- ISBN 9780691130521
- Weight: 567g
- Dimensions: 152 x 235mm
- Publication Date: 22 Jul 2007
- Publisher: Princeton University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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What is the best way to photograph a speeding bullet? Why does light move through glass in the least amount of time possible? How can lost hikers find their way out of a forest? What will rainbows look like in the future? Why do soap bubbles have a shape that gives them the least area? By combining the mathematical history of extrema with contemporary examples, Paul J. Nahin answers these intriguing questions and more in this engaging and witty volume. He shows how life often works at the extremes--with values becoming as small (or as large) as possible--and how mathematicians over the centuries have struggled to calculate these problems of minima and maxima. From medieval writings to the development of modern calculus to the current field of optimization, Nahin tells the story of Dido's problem, Fermat and Descartes, Torricelli, Bishop Berkeley, Goldschmidt, and more. Along the way, he explores how to build the shortest bridge possible between two towns, how to shop for garbage bags, how to vary speed during a race, and how to make the perfect basketball shot.
Written in a conversational tone and requiring only an early undergraduate level of mathematical knowledge, When Least Is Best is full of fascinating examples and ready-to-try-at-home experiments. This is the first book on optimization written for a wide audience, and math enthusiasts of all backgrounds will delight in its lively topics.
Paul J. Nahin is Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering at the University of New Hampshire. He is the author of many books, including the bestselling "An Imaginary Tale: The Story of the Square Root of Minus One", "Duelling Idiots and Other Probability Puzzlers", and "Dr. Euler's Fabulous Formula: Cures Many Mathematical Ills" (all Princeton).
