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What's the use? : how mathematics shapes everyday life

Available Formats:

  • Running Time: 09:09 hrs
    Narrator: Quentin Cooper
    Publisher:
    Basic Books, 2021
    Note: This book was purchased with support from the Government of Canada's Social Development Partnerships Program - Disability Component.
  • Accessibility:
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    Certified Accessible By: National Network for Equitable Library Service
    Running Time: 09:09 hrs
    Narrator: Quentin Cooper
    Publisher:
    BC Libraries Cooperative, 2024
    Note: This book was produced with support from the Government of Canada's Social Development Partnerships Program - Disability Component.

Details:

  • Author: Stewart, Ian
    Contributor: Cooper, Quentin
    Date:
    Created
    2021
    Summary:

    See the world in a completely new way as an esteemed mathematician shows how math powers the world--from technology to health care and beyond. Almost all of us have sat in a math class, wondering when we'd ever need to know how to find the roots of a polynomial or graph imaginary numbers. And in one sense, we were right: if we needed to, we'd use a computer. But as Ian Stewart argues in What's the Use?, math isn't just about boring computations. Rather, it offers us new and profound insights into our world, allowing us to accomplish feats as significant as space exploration and organ donation. From the trigonometry that keeps a satellite in orbit to the prime numbers used by the world's most advanced security systems to the imaginary numbers that enable augmented reality, math isn't just relevant to our lives. It is the very fabric of our existence.

    Subject(s): Mathematics
    Original Publisher: New York, Basic Books
    Language(s): English
    ISBN: 9781549193521