The Best Writing on Mathematics 2011

The year's finest writing on mathematics from around the world

This anthology brings together the year's finest mathematics writing from around the world. Featuring promising new voices alongside some of the foremost names in the field, The Best Writing on Mathematics 2011 makes available to a wide audience many articles not easily found anywhere else—and you don't need to be a mathematician to enjoy them. These writings offer surprising insights into the nature, meaning, and practice of mathematics today. They delve into the history, philosophy, teaching, and everyday occurrences of math, and take readers behind the scenes of today's hottest mathematical debates. Here Ian Hacking discusses the salient features that distinguish mathematics from other disciplines of the mind; Doris Schattschneider identifies some of the mathematical inspirations of M. C. Escher's art; Jordan Ellenberg describes compressed sensing, a mathematical field that is reshaping the way people use large sets of data; Erica Klarreich reports on the use of algorithms in the job market for doctors; and much, much more.

In addition to presenting the year's most memorable writings on mathematics, this must-have anthology includes a foreword by esteemed physicist and mathematician Freeman Dyson. This book belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in where math has taken us—and where it is headed.

"The volume is a single-shot source to keep in touch with all that is going on in the world of mathematics."---Vaidehi Nathan, Organiser

"I invite the reader of this review to read the book; it contains many more interesting aspects of the interplay between mathematics and the real life than the ones I can explain."

"[E]ntertaining and informative."---Ian D. Gordon, Library Journal

"This wonderful book is not just a collection of essays; there are also references including a list of notable texts, links to mathematics websites, and biographies of the contributors, which may prove to be as valuable to the reader as the essays themselves. The Best Writing on Mathematics 2011 cannot be recommended highly enough!"---Robert Schaefer, New York Journal of Books

"Mathematics instructor Pitici turns out a second volume of unexpectedly fascinating mathematical research, musings, and studies that explore subjects from art to medicine. . . . From a discussion of the utility of mathematics in stone and bronze sculptures to a study of computing and its interaction with the sciences, readers from many disciplines will find much to pique their interest."