The Art of Mathematics

"Creative mathematicians seldom write for outsiders, but when they do, they usually do it well. Jerry King is no exception." — Nature"Touch[es] the mathematical grandeur that the first geometers contemplated." — Publishers Weekly"Witty, trenchant, and provocative." — Mathematical Association of AmericaA simple algebraic formula can reduce otherwise intelligent people to shamefaced confusion. Why are so many people so puzzled by mathematics? Clear, concise, and superbly written, this book reveals the beauty at the heart of mathematics — and it makes that beauty accessible to everyone, demonstrating the humor of calculus, the sweetness in pi, and the poetry of numbers.Mathematics professor and poet Jerry P. King writes with passion and wit of Euclid, Yeats, Poincaré, and Rembrandt, drawing examples from axioms, paintings, and symphonies. The Art of Mathematics explores the difference between real, rational, and complex numbers; analyzes the intellectual underpinnings of pure and applied mathematics; and illustrates the fundamental connection between aesthetics and math. King also sheds light on how mathematicians pursue their research, and how our educational system perpetuates the imagined divisions between the "two cultures."