Mrs. Perkins's Electric Quilt: And Other Intriguing Stories of Mathematical Physics

Whatdoesquiltinghavetodowithelectriccircuittheory?Theanswerisjustoneofthefascinatingwaysthatbest-sellingpopularmathwriterPaulNahinillustratesthedeepinterplayofmathandphysicsintheworldaroundusinhislatestbookofchallengingmathematicalpuzzles,"Mrs.Perkins'sElectricQuilt".Withhistrademarkcombinationofintriguingmathematicalproblemsandthehistoricalanecdotessurroundingthem,Nahininvitesreadersonanexcitingandinformativeexplorationofsomeofthemanywaysmathandphysicscombinetocreatesomethingvastlymorepowerful,useful,andinterestingthaneitherisbyitself.Inaseriesofbriefandlargelyself-containedchapters,Nahindiscussesawiderangeoftopicsinwhichmathandphysicsaremutuallydependentandmutuallyilluminating,fromNewtoniangravityandNewton'slawsofmechanicstoballistics,airdrag,andelectricity.Themathematicalsubjectsrangefromalgebra,trigonometry,geometry,andcalculustodifferentialequations,Fourierseries,andtheoreticalandMonteCarloprobability.Eachchapterincludesproblems-somethreedozeninall-thatchallengereaderstotrytheirhandatapplyingwhattheyhavelearned.Justasinhisotherbooksofmathematicalpuzzles,Nahindiscussesthehistoricalbackgroundofeachproblem,givesmanyexamples,includesMATLABcodes,andprovidescompleteanddetailedsolutionsattheend."Mrs.Perkins'sElectricQuilt"willappealtostudentsinterestedinnewmathandphysicsapplications,teacherslookingforunusualexamplestouseinclass-andanyonewhoenjoyspopularmathbooks.,