Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

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Published
HarperCollins , 2019.
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Available from Libby/OverDrive

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER“Marvelous . . . an array of witty and astonishing stories . . . to illuminate how calculus has helped bring into being our contemporary world.”—The Washington PostFrom preeminent math personality and author of The Joy of x, a brilliant and endlessly appealing explanation of calculus – how it works and why it makes our lives immeasurably better.    Without calculus, we wouldn’t have cell phones, TV, GPS, or ultrasound. We wouldn’t have unraveled DNA or discovered Neptune or figured out how to put 5,000 songs in your pocket.    Though many of us were scared away from this essential, engrossing subject in high school and college, Steven Strogatz’s brilliantly creative, down-to-earth history shows that calculus is not about complexity; it’s about simplicity. It harnesses an unreal number—infinity—to tackle real-world problems, breaking them down into easier ones and then reassembling the answers into solutions that feel miraculous.   Infinite Powers recounts how calculus tantalized and thrilled its inventors, starting with its first glimmers in ancient Greece and bringing us right up to the discovery of gravitational waves (a phenomenon predicted by calculus). Strogatz reveals how this form of math rose to the challenges of each age: how to determine the area of a circle with only sand and a stick; how to explain why Mars goes “backwards” sometimes; how to make electricity with magnets; how to ensure your rocket doesn’t miss the moon; how to turn the tide in the fight against AIDS.    As Strogatz proves, calculus is truly the language of the universe. By unveiling the principles of that language, Infinite Powers makes us marvel at the world anew. 

More Details

Format
eBook
Street Date
04/02/2019
Language
English
ISBN
9781328880017

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Published Reviews

Booklist Review

If, as physicist Richard Feynman believed, calculus is the language God talks, then readers not schooled in its divine idioms will thank Strogatz for taking on the role of translator. Converted from baffling equations into accessible metaphors and anecdotes, the heavenly language of calculus illuminates an astonishing range of natural marvels from the gravity waves generated by cosmically distant black holes to positrons annihilated in collision with electrons. With lucid brevity, Strogatz explains the intergalactic reach of calculus by examining just two operations: first, the division of a shape or phenomenon into infinitely many parts, and, second, the integration of the infinitesimal pieces. Of course, as a professor of applied mathematics at Cornell, Strogatz tutors readers in the use of calculus to image the brain, to design jetliner wings, to power GPS navigation. Strogatz grows giddy as he imagines a future in which artificially intelligent computers use calculus to fathom not only the hows of mathematics but also the whys. After this schooling in fundamentals, readers may hope to understand the heavenly language those computers will be speaking.--Bryce Christensen Copyright 2019 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
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Publisher's Weekly Review

Strogatz (The Joy of X), a professor of applied mathematics at Cornell University, provides a reminder that calculus has practical applications and makes the field accessible to readers at all levels in this far-ranging survey. He begins with the ancient Greeks and their search for ways to calculate the areas of circles and curves by slicing them into smaller pieces. Centuries later, Galileo studied the relationship between the length and movement of pendulums. Strogatz introduces the characters behind the math, covering great partnerships (such as that of astronomers Johannes Kepler and Tycho Brahe, whose work led to Kepler's laws of planetary motion) and seething rivalries (such as that of Pierre de Fermat and RenAc Descartes, who laid the groundwork for differential calculus, and the famous competition between calculus innovators Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz). Strogatz also gives plenty of real-world applications, from designing microwave ovens to plotting the course of spacecraft and fighting HIV. His discussion is clear and accessible, with plenty of diagrams, and mercifully few equations. Strogatz successfully illuminates a notoriously complex topic and this work should enhance appreciation for the history behind its innovations. Agent: Katinka Matson, Brockman Inc. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
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Library Journal Review

For anyone who has struggled through a required calculus course, this latest book by Strogatz (Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Applied Mathematics, Cornell Univ.; The Joy of X) is especially welcome. Strogatz does a great job of explaining a difficult subject, both to those in need of a refresher and those who have never taken calculus. After describing calculus's history and the people who created it, the author uses real examples, ranging from athletics to medicine, to show some of its many old, new and, potentially future applications. Most importantly, he lays out the case that calculus is fundamental to the way we live today. Simply put, without calculus, there would be no modern physics, and without physics we wouldn't have the technology that shapes our modern world. VERDICT A solid choice for readers who want to know what calculus is all about, and for teachers who wish to improve their presentation.-Harold D. Shane, Mathematics Emeritus, Baruch Coll. Lib., CUNY © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Kirkus Book Review

A complex attempt to render calculus accessible.Strogatz (Applied Mathematics/Cornell Univ.; The Joy of X: A Guided Tour of Math, from One to Infinity, 2013, etc.) emphasizes that "calculus is an imaginary realm of symbols and logic" that "lets us peer into the future and predict the unknown. That's what makes it such a powerful tool for science and technology." It works by breaking problems down into tiny partsinfinitely tinyand then putting them back together. Breaking down is the work of differential calculus; putting together requires integral calculus. Early civilizations, including the Babylonians, Greeks, and Chinese, had no trouble measuring anything straight, including complex structures such as the icosahedron, but curves and movement caused problems. Thus, finding the area of a circle by converting it into a 10-sided polygon and measuring the polygon's area yields a fair approximation. A 100-sided polygon gave a more accurate result. Perfection required a polygon with an infinite number of infinitely small sides, but dealing with infinity was particularly tricky. Invented in its modern version by Newton and Leibniz in the late 17th century, calculus solved the problem. Readers who pay close attention to Strogatz's analogies, generously supplied with graphs and illustrations, may or may not see the light, but all will enjoy the long final section, which eschews education in favor of a history of modern science, which turns out to be a direct consequence of this mathematics. The best introduction to calculus remains a textbookCalculus Made Easy by Silvanus P. Thompsonpublished in 1910 and, amazingly, still in print. Readers who dip into Thompson will understand Strogatz's enthusiasm. His own explanations will enlighten those with some memory of high school calculus, but innumerate readers are likely to remain mystified.An energetic effort that successfully communicates the author's love of mathematics, if not the secrets of calculus itself. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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Booklist Reviews

If, as physicist Richard Feynman believed, calculus is "the language God talks," then readers not schooled in its divine idioms will thank Strogatz for taking on the role of translator. Converted from baffling equations into accessible metaphors and anecdotes, the heavenly language of calculus illuminates an astonishing range of natural marvels—from the gravity waves generated by cosmically distant black holes to positrons annihilated in collision with electrons. With lucid brevity, Strogatz explains the intergalactic reach of calculus by examining just two operations: first, the division of a shape or phenomenon into infinitely many parts, and, second, the integration of the infinitesimal pieces. Of course, as a professor of applied mathematics at Cornell, Strogatz tutors readers in the use of calculus to image the brain, to design jetliner wings, to power GPS navigation. Strogatz grows giddy as he imagines a future in which artificially intelligent computers use calculus to fathom not only the hows of mathematics but also the whys. After this schooling in fundamentals, readers may hope to understand the heavenly language those computers will be speaking. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.

Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.
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Library Journal Reviews

For anyone who has struggled through a required calculus course, this latest book by Strogatz (Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Applied Mathematics, Cornell Univ.; The Joy of X) is especially welcome. Strogatz does a great job of explaining a difficult subject, both to those in need of a refresher and those who have never taken calculus. After describing calculus's history and the people who created it, the author uses real examples, ranging from athletics to medicine, to show some of its many old, new and, potentially future applications. Most importantly, he lays out the case that calculus is fundamental to the way we live today. Simply put, without calculus, there would be no modern physics, and without physics we wouldn't have the technology that shapes our modern world. VERDICT A solid choice for readers who want to know what calculus is all about, and for teachers who wish to improve their presentation.—Harold D. Shane, Mathematics Emeritus, Baruch Coll. Lib., CUNY

Copyright 2019 Library Journal.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal.
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Publishers Weekly Reviews

Strogatz (The Joy of X), a professor of applied mathematics at Cornell University, provides a reminder that calculus has practical applications and makes the field accessible to readers at all levels in this far-ranging survey. He begins with the ancient Greeks and their search for ways to calculate the areas of circles and curves by slicing them into smaller pieces. Centuries later, Galileo studied the relationship between the length and movement of pendulums. Strogatz introduces the characters behind the math, covering great partnerships (such as that of astronomers Johannes Kepler and Tycho Brahe, whose work led to Kepler's laws of planetary motion) and seething rivalries (such as that of Pierre de Fermat and René Descartes, who laid the groundwork for differential calculus, and the famous competition between calculus innovators Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz). Strogatz also gives plenty of real-world applications, from designing microwave ovens to plotting the course of spacecraft and fighting HIV. His discussion is clear and accessible, with plenty of diagrams, and mercifully few equations. Strogatz successfully illuminates a notoriously complex topic and this work should enhance appreciation for the history behind its innovations. Agent: Katinka Matson, Brockman Inc. (Apr.)

Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly.

Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly.
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Citations

APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)

Strogatz, S. (2019). Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe . HarperCollins.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Strogatz, Steven. 2019. Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe. HarperCollins.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Strogatz, Steven. Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe HarperCollins, 2019.

Harvard Citation (style guide)

Strogatz, S. (2019). Infinite powers: how calculus reveals the secrets of the universe. HarperCollins.

MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)

Strogatz, Steven. Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe HarperCollins, 2019.

Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.

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