Set in the West of 1846, Buffalo Man is a love story between a young non-Mormon boy and a Mormon girl. Anna Sinclair is only fourteen-years-old when she leaves Nauvoo with her family for the trek west to the Great Salt Lake Valley. Wes Hamlin is a sixteen-year-old non-Mormon who is falsely accused of killing a Mormon. He runs from the law and hitches up with an old cantankerous mountain man, Crocker Sloan, who introduces him to trapping and living with the Lakota Indians. Over the next three years the two youngsters experience numerous adventures as they move west, occasionally meeting and eventually falling in love. Yet, before their love can be realized Wes must establish his innocence and Anna must resist her family's desire for her to enter a polygamist marriage.

Why seemingly unrelated mathematical truths are connected in simple and beautiful equations continues to stump even mathematicians. This recreational math book takes the reader on a fantastic voyage into the world of natural numbers. From the earliest discoveries of the ancient Greeks to various fundamental characteristics of the natural number sequence, Clawson explains fascinating mathematical mysteries in clear and easy prose. He delves into the heart of number theory to see and understand the exquisite relationships among natural numbers, and ends by exploring the ultimate mystery of mathematics: the Riemann hypothesis, which says that through a point in a plane, no line can be drawn parallel to a given line.While a professional mathematician's treatment of number theory involves the most sophisticated analytical tools, its basic ideas are surprisingly easy to comprehend. By concentrating on the meaning behind various equations and proofs and avoiding technical refinements, "Mathematical Mysteries" lets the common reader catch a glimpse of this wonderful and exotic world.

The story of numbers is a rich, sweeping history that shows how our mathematical achievements contributed to the greatest innovations of civilization. Calvin Clawson, acclaimed author of Conquering Math Phobia, weaves a story of numbers that spans thousands of years. As Clawson so clearly shows, numbers are not only an intrinsic and essential thread in our modern lives, but have always been an integral part of the human psyche - knit into the very fabric of our identity as humans. Clawson travels back through time to the roots of the history of numbers. In exploring early human fascination with numbers, he unearths the clay beads, knotted ropes, and tablets used by our ancestors as counting tools. He then investigates how numeric symbols and concepts developed uniquely and independently in Meso-America, China, and Egypt. As he persuasively argues, the mathematical concepts that arose and flourished in the ancient world enabled the creation of architectural masterpieces as well as the establishment of vast trade networks. Continuing the journey, Clawson brings us to the elegant logic of numbers that soon came to distinguish itself as a discipline and the language of science. From the concepts of infinity contemplated by the Greeks to the complex numbers that are indispensable to scientists on the cutting edge of research today, Clawson breathes life and meaning into the history of great mathematical mysteries and problems. In this spirit of inquiry, he explores, in their times and places, the discovery of numbers that lie outside the province of counting, including irrational numbers, transcendentals, complex numbers, and the enormous transfinite numbers. The personalities and the creative feats surrounding each mathematical invention come alive vividly in Clawson's lucid prose. In this work of breathtaking scope, Clawson guides us through the wonders of numbers and illustrates their monumental impact on civilization.

}There are two kinds of people: those who can do mathematics, and then theres the rest of us.Math is boring.Females have no facility for mathematics (and really dont need it, anyway).For many people who do not like math, these myths ring true.Calvin Clawson, the celebrated author of Mathematical Mysteries , has a unique talent for opening the door for the uninitiated to the splendors of mathematics. A writer in love with his subject, Clawson offers readers the perfect antidote to the phobias and misconceptions surrounding mathematics in MATHEMATICAL SORCERY . Contending that the power and beauty of mathematics are gifts in which we all can partake, he shows that the field of mathematics holds a bounty of wonder that can be reaped by any one of us in the hopes of discovering new truths.In this captivating quest for pure knowledge, Clawson takes us on a journey to the amazing discoveries of our ancient ancestors. He divulges the wisdom of the Ancient Greeks, Sumerians, Babylonians, and Egyptians, whose stunning revelations still have deep meaning to us today. The secrets of the constellations, the enigma of the golden mean, and the brilliance of a proof are just some of the breakthroughs he explores with unbridled delight.Enabling us to appreciate the achievements of Newton and other intellectual giants, Clawson inspires us through his eloquence and zeal to actually do mathematics, urging us to leap to the next level. He helps us intuitively comprehend and follow the very building blocks that too long have been a mystery to most of us, including infinity, functions, and the limit. As he elegantly states: Mathematics is pursued not only for the sheer joy of the pursuit, as with the Ancient Greeks, but for the truths it reveals about our universe. Through MATHEMATICAL SORCERY , we taste the fruit of knowledge that has eluded us until now. }

A love story set in the turbulent and chaotic West of 1846, Buffalo Man is a fictional account set against the historically accurate events of the time. Anna Sinclair is a fourteen-year-old Mormon joining the great Mormon migration to the Salt Lake Valley with her family when her father is killed by anti-Mormon raiders. Wes Hamlin is a sixteen-year-old non-Mormon who runs off to the Indian Territories after being accused of the murder. Wes takes an assumed name and partners with a cantankerous trapper named Crocker Sloan who introduces the boy to trapping beaver and accompanies him through a series of adventures including living with the Lakota Indians. The two youngsters, Wes and Anna, have chance encounters over several years and fall deeply in love. But coming from such different backgrounds, can their love ever find fruition? Their story is set in a time of pioneers, mountain men, the Mormon migration and polygamy.

Return to a time in America when millions of buffalo roamed the Great Plains, Native Americans lived free and trappers sought their fortunes by overcoming tremendous obstacles in their search of the beaver. Walt Thornley, a seventeen-year-old farm boy, and Silky Hanson, a thirty-seven-year-old farm hand, become convinced they can find riches in the western Indian Territories of 1840 by trapping beaver and taking buffalo hides. Leaving Independence, Missouri in early May they stop for one last beer in Westport Landing where they meet Jerome, an easygoing alcoholic drifter who convinces the two farmers to let him join their venture. The three would-be trapper-hunters enter the Great Plains with few supplies and less knowledge of how to survive. Misadventures begin occurring at an alarming rate. As their adventures unfold, Silky is unable to adjust to the stringent requirements of traveling on the open prairie: his hostility toward Native Americans and his unwillingness to learn the necessary survival skills traps him into making costly mistakes. Walt, on the other hand, has the energy and youth to learn and adapt to the West; soon he is taking on an ever larger responsibility for leadership.