How to Cut a Cake: And Other Mathematical Conundrums

by Ian Stewart

Overview

Welcome back to Ian Stewart's magical world of mathematics! Here are twenty more curious puzzles and fantastical mathematical stories from one of the world's most popular and accessible writers on mathematics. This is a strange world of never-ending chess games, empires on the moon, furious fireflies, and, of course, disputes over how best to cut a cake. Each chapter—with titles such as, "How to Play Poker By Post" and "Repealing the Law of Averages"—presents a fascinating mathematical puzzle that is challenging, fun, and introduces the reader to a significant mathematical problem in an engaging and witty way. Illustrated with clever and quirky cartoons, each tale will delight those who love puzzles and mathematical conundrums.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199205905
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	12/11/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	9.14(w) x 6.34(h) x 0.79(d)

About the Author

Ian Stewart is Professor of Mathematics at Warwick University, and Director of the Mathematics Awareness Centre at Warwick. An active research mathematician, he is well-known for popularizing mathematics and science for the public. A Fellow of the Royal Society, his many books include Evolving the Alien (with Jack Cohen), What Shape is a Snowflake?, and Does God Play Dice?.

Table of Contents

Preface1. Arithmetic and old lace2. Paradox lost3. Tight tins for round sardines4. Repealing the law of averages5. The never-ending chess game6. How to play poker by post7. Empires on the Moon8. Empires and electronics9. Resurrection shuffle10. Double bubble, toil and trouble11. Crossed lines in the brick factory12. Your half's bigger than my half! - Cake-dividing problems13. More cake-dividing problems14. Furiously flashing fireflies15. Why phone cords get tangled16. Sierpinski's ubiquitous gasket17. Defend the Roman empire!18. Triangulation takeaway19. Rep-tiling the plane20. Easter is a quasicrystal