Five More Golden Rules: Knots, Codes, Chaos and Other Great Theories of 20th-Century Mathematics

Bring more joy to your favorite math-head with Five More Golden Rules from science writer and national treasure John L. Casti. Though a quick glance through the book will cause an intense fight-or-flight response in the numerophobic, Casti's writing is lovely and lucid as ever, explaining not just equations and theorems but their significance in our lives. Having discovered in Five Golden Rules that he couldn't restrict himself to just five important 20th-century mathematical theories, this follow-up explores the intricacies of knot theory, functional analysis, control theory, chaotic systems, and information theory. Each of the five lively chapters introduces its subject with a seemingly unrelated anecdote that is (of course) informed by the theory in question. Then it's headlong into the wonderful details of postulation and demonstration that make math so much fun. Unlike a textbook, Five More Golden Rules meanders and breaks away from its proofs to discover relations between the symbols and the real world, from the stock market to the coastline of Norway. Besides giving the reader a break, this makes the abstract, almost ethereal concepts concrete and provides a definite advantage to the interested student. Perhaps textbook publishers should take note of this technique; until they do, we'll have to curl up with Casti's Five More Golden Rules if we want to have fun with our higher math. --Rob Lightner