In the twenty-first century, everyone can benefit from being able
to think mathematically. This is not the same as "doing math." The
latter usually involves the application of formulas, procedures,
and symbolic manipulations; mathematical thinking is a powerful
"way of thinking" about things in the world -- logically,
analytically, quantitatively, and with precision. It is not a
natural way of thinking, but it can be learned. Mathematicians,
scientists, and engineers need to "do math," and it takes many
years of college-level education to learn all that is required.
Mathematical thinking is valuable to everyone, and can be mastered
in about six weeks by anyone who has completed high school
mathematics. Mathematical thinking does not have to be about
mathematics at all, but parts of mathematics provide the ideal
target domain to learn how to think that way, and that is the
approach taken by this short but valuable book. The book is written
"primarily" for first and second year students of science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) at colleges and
universities, and for high school students intending to study a
STEM subject at university. Many students encounter difficulty
going from high school math to college-level mathematics. Even if
they did well at math in school, most are knocked off course for a
while by the shift in emphasis, from the K-12 focus on mastering
procedures to the "mathematical thinking" characteristic of much
university mathematics. Though the majority survive the transition,
many do not. To help them make the shift, colleges and universities
often have a "transition course." This book could serve as a
textbook or a supplementary source for such a course. Because of
the widespread applicability of mathematical thinking, however, the
book has been kept short and written in an engaging style, to make
it accessible to anyone who seeks to extend and improve their
analytic thinking skills. Going beyond a basic grasp of analytic
thinking that everyone can benefit from, the STEM student who truly
masters mathematical thinking will find that college-level
mathematics goes from being confusing, frustrating, and at times
seemingly impossible, to making sense and being hard but "doable."
Dr. Keith Devlin is a professional mathematician at Stanford
University and the author of 31 previous books and over 80 research
papers. His books have earned him many awards, including the
Pythagoras Prize, the Carl Sagan Award, and the Joint Policy Board
for Mathematics Communications Award. He is known to millions of
NPR listeners as "the Math Guy" on "Weekend Edition" with Scott
Simon. He writes a popular monthly blog "Devlin's Angle" for the
Mathematical Association of America, another blog under the name
"profkeithdevlin," and also blogs on various topics for the
Huffington Post.
General
Imprint: |
Keith Devlin
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Release date: |
July 2012 |
First published: |
July 2012 |
Authors: |
Keith Devlin
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 6mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
92 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-615-65363-1 |
Categories: |
Books >
Science & Mathematics >
Mathematics >
General
|
LSN: |
0-615-65363-4 |
Barcode: |
9780615653631 |
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