Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
The Mathematical Mechanic: Using Physical Reasoning to Solve Problems
by
Mark Levi
Everybody knows that mathematics is indispensable to physics--imagine where we'd be today if Einstein and Newton didn't have the math to back up their ideas. But how many people realize that physics can be used to produce many astonishing and strikingly elegant solutions in mathematics? Mark Levi shows how in this delightful book, treating readers to a host of entertaining...more
Paperback, 200 pages
Published
July 22nd 2012
by Princeton University Press
(first published July 1st 2009)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
83)
Niente da fare. Riponevo molte speranze su questo libro, tanto che me l'ero preordinato sei mesi prima che uscisse l'edizione in brossura. Invece è stato una delusione... ma iniziamo dal principio.
L'idea di Mark Levi è semplice: invece che usare la matematica per dimostrare le proprietà fisiche, lui ha usato le proprietà fisiche per dimostrare le proposizioni matematici, a partire dal teorema di Pitagora in poi. Come scrivevo, l'idea non è male, ma purtroppo io devo avere un blocco mentale per q...more
L'idea di Mark Levi è semplice: invece che usare la matematica per dimostrare le proprietà fisiche, lui ha usato le proprietà fisiche per dimostrare le proposizioni matematici, a partire dal teorema di Pitagora in poi. Come scrivevo, l'idea non è male, ma purtroppo io devo avere un blocco mentale per q...more
A delightful tour through various fields of math. Levi develops intuitive explanations for mathematical concepts by performing thought experiements. The theme that draws the book together is that the experiments rely on the reader's familiarity with real-world objects such as springs and fish tanks. The book does not focus on generalizable problem-solving techniques, so it wasn't especially helpful to me for use in class. But I found it fun that you can use a fishtank to demonstrate the Pythagor...more
My assumption going into this book was that the author would use physical reasoning to make higher mathematical concepts clearer and more accessible. It's a great idea: Gauss' Law in 2D can be imagined as a spreading puddle of oil, of course!
Instead you get a mess of contrived analogies that are literary Rube Goldberg devices at best and not applicable at worst. The author would spend pages upon pages setting up these exercises and, though some were well done (like where to park in a drive-in to...more
Instead you get a mess of contrived analogies that are literary Rube Goldberg devices at best and not applicable at worst. The author would spend pages upon pages setting up these exercises and, though some were well done (like where to park in a drive-in to...more
Fun and enlightening!
Wish i had this book back in my undergrad physics days...
Wish i had this book back in my undergrad physics days...
Awesome giggly fun
Good concept, but repetitive.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
