Bøger af Alexander Soifer

The New Mathematical Coloring Book (TNMCB) includes striking results of the past 15-year renaissance that produced new approaches, advances, and solutions to problems from the first edition. A large part of the new edition ¿Ask what your computer can do for you,¿ presents the recent breakthrough by Aubrey de Grey and works by Marijn Heule, Jaan Parts, Geoffrey Exoo, and Dan Ismailescu. TNMCB introduces new open problems and conjectures that will pave the way to the future keeping the book in the center of the field. TNMCB presents mathematics of coloring as an evolution of ideas, with biographies of their creators and historical setting of the world around them, and the world around us.A new thing in the world at the time, TMCB I is now joined by a colossal sibling containing more than twice as much of what only Alexander Soifer can deliver: an interweaving of mathematics with history and biography, well-seasoned with controversy and opinion. ¿Peter D. Johnson, Jr.Auburn UniversityLike TMCB I, TMCB II is a unique combination of Mathematics, History, and Biography written by a skilled journalist who has been intimately involved with the story for the last half-century. ¿The nature of the subject makes much of the material accessible to students, but also of interest to working Mathematicians. ¿ In addition to learning some wonderful Mathematics, students will learn to appreciate the influences of Paul Erd¿s, Ron Graham, and others.¿Geoffrey ExooIndiana State UniversityThe beautiful and unique Mathematical coloring book of Alexander Soifer is another case of ¿good mathematics¿, containing a lot of similar examples (it is not by chance that Szemerédi¿s Theorem story is included as well) and presenting mathematics as both a science and an art¿¿Peter MihókMathematical Reviews, MathSciNetA postman came to the door with a copy of the masterpiece of the century. I thank you and the mathematics community should thank you for years to come. You have set a standard for writing about mathematics and mathematicians that will be hard to match.¿ Harold W. KuhnPrinceton UniversityI have never encountered a book of this kind. The best description of it I can give is that it is a mystery novel¿ I found it hard to stop reading before I finished (in two days) the whole text. Soifer engages the reader's attention not only mathematically, but emotionally and esthetically. May you enjoy the book as much as I did!¿ Branko GrünbaumUniversity of WashingtonI am in absolute awe of your 2008 book.¿Aubrey D.N.J. de GreyLEV Foundation

Over the past two decades, the once small local Colorado Springs Mathematics Olympiad, founded by the author himself, has now become an annual state-wide competition, hosting over one-thousand high school contenders each year. This updated printing of the first edition of Colorado Mathematical Olympiad: the First Twenty Years and Further Explorations offers an interesting history of the competition as well as an outline of all the problems and solutions that have been a part of the contest over the years. Many of the essay problems were inspired by Russian mathematical folklore and written to suit the young audience; for example, the 1989 Sugar problem was written as a pleasant Lewis Carroll-like story. Some other entertaining problems involve old Victorian map colorings, King Arthur and the knights of the round table, rooks in space, Santa Claus and his elves painting planes, football for 23, and even the Colorado Springs subway system.The book is more than just problems, their solutions, and event statistics; it tells a compelling story involving the lives of those who have been part of the Olympiad from every perspective.

Bartel Leendert van der Waerden made major contributions to algebraic geometry, abstract algebra, quantum mechanics, and other fields. He liberally published on the history of mathematics. His 2-volume work Modern Algebra is one of the most influential and popular mathematical books ever written. It is therefore surprising that no monograph has been dedicated to his life and work. Van der Waerden's record is complex. In attempting to understand his life, the author assembled thousands of documents from numerous archives in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States which revealed fascinating and often surprising new information about van der Waerden. Soifer traces Van der Waerden's early years in a family of great Dutch public servants, his life as professor in Leipzig during the entire Nazi period, and his personal and professional friendship with one of the great physicists Werner Heisenberg. We encounter heroes and villains and a much more numerous group in between these two extremes. One of them is the subject of this book. Soifer's journey through a long list of archives, combined with an intensive correspondence, had uncovered numerous details of Van der Waerden's German intermezzo that raised serious questions and reproaches. Dirk van Dalen (Philosophy, Utrecht University)Professor Soifer's book implicates the anthropologists' and culture historians' core interest in the evolution of culture and in the progress of human evolution itself on this small contested planet. James W. Fernandez (Anthropology, University of Chicago)The book is fascinating. Professor Soifer has done a great service to the discipline of history, as well as deepening our understanding of the 20th century. Peter D. Johnson, Jr. (Mathematics, Auburn University)This book is an important contribution to the history of the twentieth century, and reads like a novel with an ever-fascinating cast of characters. Harold W. Kuhn (Mathematics, Princeton University)This is a most impressive and important book. It is written in an engaging, very personal style and challenges the reader's ability of moral and historical judgment. While it is not always written in the style of 'objective' professional historiography, it satisfies very high standards of scholarly documentation. Indeed the book contains a wealth of source material that allows the reader to form a highly detailed picture of the events and personalities discussed in the book. As an exemplar of historical writing in a broader sense it can compete with any other historical book.Moritz Epple (History of Mathematics, Frankfurt University)

Various elementary techniques for solving problems in algebra, geometry, and combinatorics are explored in this second edition of Mathematics as Problem Solving.

This book covers the Ramsey Theory, from its history to its famous problems. It also offers studies of Issai Schur, Pierre Joseph, Henry Baudet, and B.L. van der Waerden, incorporating photos and correspondence never before published.

Suitable for students interested in pursuing mathematics, this book outlines an introduction to graph theory and combinatorics while exploring topics such as the Pigeonhole Principle, and theorems of Helly and Szokefalvi-Nagy. It introduces these ideas with applications with an aim to prepare young readers for the mathematical world.

This second edition of Alexander Soifer's How Does One Cut a Triangle? demonstrates how different areas of mathematics can be juxtaposed in the solution of a given problem. The author employs geometry, algebra, trigonometry, linear algebra, and rings to develop a miniature model of mathematical research.