Mathematical Recreations and Essays

by W.W. Rouse Ball

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Genres: Mathematics, Science

388 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1892

About the author

Walter William Rouse Ball, known as W. W. Rouse Ball (14 August 1850 – 4 April 1925), was a British mathematician, lawyer, and fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge from 1878 to 1905. He was also a keen amateur magician, and the founding president of the Cambridge Pentacle Club in 1919, one of the world's oldest magic societies.

Rouse Ball was educated at University College School, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge in 1870, where he became a scholar and the first winner of Smith's Prize. He gained his BA in 1874 as second Wrangler and then became a Fellow of Trinity in 1875, which he remained for the rest of his life.

He is buried at the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground in Cambridge, and is commemorated in the naming of a small pavilion situated on Jesus Green in Cambridge. The Rouse Ball Professorship of Mathematics and the Rouse Ball Professorship at English Law, both held at Cambridge, were created in 1927 from a bequest by Rouse Ball.

Reviews

[Uladzislau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Книга издана в некогда суперпопулярной серии издательства "Мир" - "Математическая мозаика". Позиционируется, как энциклопедия занимательной математики, но написана очень тяжеловесно, да к тому же неэлементарно - регулярно всплывает и анализ и ряды и абстрактная алгебра и прочая. Те же задачи изложены в серии книг Мартина Гарднера (не фантаста, а математика-популяризатора) куда как более внятно. Но читать можно. Самая последняя глава, посвященная криптоанализу и криптографии, получилась самой занятной, но к настоящему времени изрядно устарела.

[Namrata · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read Chapter XI 'Cryptographs and Ciphers' only