Kolmogorov Complexity and Our Search for Meaning: What Math Can Teach Us about Finding Order in our Chaotic Lives

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Introduction ix
4. Geometry v. Gerrymandering 1
5. Slicing Sandwiches, States, and Solar Systems: Can Mathematical Tools Help Determine What Divisions Are Provably Fair? 12
6. Does Mathematics Teach How to Think? 27
7. Abstracting the Rubik’s Cube 43
8. Topology-Disturbing Objects: A New Class of 3D Optical Illusion 53
9. Mathematicians Explore Mirror Link between Two Geometric Worlds 74
10. Professor Engel’s Marvelously Improbable Machines 81
11. The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences 90
12. Mathematics for Big Data 120
13. The Un(solv)able Problem 132
14. The Mechanization of Mathematics 150
15. Mathematics as an Empirical Phenomenon, Subject to Modeling 171
16. Does 2 + 3 = 5? In Defense of a Near Absurdity 186
17. Gregory’s Sixth Operation 195
18. Kolmogorov Complexity and Our Search for Meaning: What Math Can Teach Us about Finding Order in our Chaotic Lives 208
19. Ethics in Statistical Practice and Communication: Five Recommendations 214
20. The Fields Medal Should Return to Its Roots 224
21. The Erdős Paradox 232
22. Contributors 241
23. Notable Writings 251
24. Acknowledgments 269
25. Credits 271