TREFETHEN'S INDEX CARDS: FORTY YEARS OF NOTES ABOUT PEOPLE, WORDS AND MATHEMATICS
Author(s): Lloyd N Trefethen (Author)
Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company
Publication Date: June 15, 2011
Edition: 1st
Language: English
Print length: 384 pages
ISBN-10: 9814360694
ISBN-13: 9789814360692
Book Description
This is a book unique in structure — a collection of ideas noted on index cards over a period of 40 years.Acclaimed mathematician Lloyd N Trefethen, Professor of Numerical Analysis at Oxford University, has created an intellectual diary, marking the development of his interests and ideas, from his teenage years to the present. These thoughts stand as signposts, directing us through a mind that applies the same scientific discipline and rigor in everyday life as that needed for success in science and academia. Informative and entertaining, Professor Trefethen’s Index Cards is a collage of observations of rare clarity, in subjects ranging from astronomy to family life, and from music to politics.The book will be of interest not only to other scientists and mathematicians, but to anyone in the general public interested in discerning how a scientific outlook informs the way we see broader issues in the societies we live in.
Editorial Reviews
Review
What’s especially original here is the book’s structure. It’s a collection of thoughts and questions, some playful, some very deep, each compact enough to fit on an index card. Nick has been writing these index cards to himself for the past 40 years. By arranging them longitudinally, he allows us to watch him unfold, captured as if by time-lapse photography, as he matures from promising teenager to the Professor of Numerical Analysis and FRS at Oxford. Whether you’re a fellow mathematician, or merely a fellow human being, you’re in for a treat you’ll never forget. I know of nothing else like it. –Steven Strogatz, Cornell University
From the Back Cover
This is one book that is unique in structure a collection of ideas noted on index cards over 4 decades.
Acclaimed mathematician Lloyd N Trefethen, Professor of Numerical Analysis at Oxford University, has created an intellectual diary, marking the development of his interests and ideas, from his teenage years to the present. These thoughts signposts, directing us through a mind that applies the same scientific discipline and rigor in everyday life as needed for success in science and academia; informative and entertaining, Professor Trefethen’s Index Cards is a collage of observations of rare clarity, in subjects ranging from astronomy to family life, and from music to politics.
The book will be of interest not only to scientists and mathematicians, the general public interested in discerning how a scientific outlook informs the way we see broader issues in the societies we live in as well.
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