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Excursions in Modern Mathematics
This edition features the same content as the traditional text in a convenient, three-hole-punched, loose-leaf version. Books a la Carte also offer a great value; this format costs significantly less than a new textbook. Before purchasing, check with your instructor or review your course syllabus to ensure that you select the correct ISBN. For Books a la Carte editions that include MyLab or Mastering, several versions may exist for each title — including customized versions for individual schools — and registrations are not transferable. In addition, you may need a Course ID, provided by your instructor, to register for and use MyLab or Mastering products.For courses in Liberal Arts Mathematics. Applicable, Accessible, Modern Excursions in Modern Mathematics introduces readers to the power and beauty of math. By developing an appreciation for the aesthetics and applicability of mathematics, readers who previously felt math was an “unknowable” subject can approach it with a new perspective. Contemporary topics ranging from elections, to networks, to analyzing data show readers that math is an accessible tool that can be applicable and interesting for anyone. Refinement and updating of examples and exercises, plus increased resources, makes the 9th Edition a relevant, accessible, and complete program. Also available with MyLab Math. MyLab Math is an online homework, tutorial, and assessment program designed to work with this text to engage students and improve results. Within its structured environment, students practice what they learn, test their understanding, and pursue a personalized study plan that helps them absorb course material and understand difficult concepts. You are purchasing a standalone product; MyLab Math does not come packaged with this content. If you would like to purchase both the physical text and MyLab Math, search 0134453158 / 9780134453156 Excursions in Modern Mathematics, Books a la Carte Edition plus MyLab Math-- Access Card Package Package consists
559 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 21, 2018
A surprisingly engaging and readable overview of some concepts in contemporary mathematics!
Don’t believe me? How about proving there is no voting system which follows all the rules of fairness? How about creating CGI mountains using nothing but triangles? How about finding the best way to equally divide a pizza?
I’ll admit I didn’t bother to sit down and work through the exercises, but that’s the advantage of reading a textbook for fun. If you’re somebody who has even a passing interest in how numbers affect the everyday world, this is a good place to start.
Don’t believe me? How about proving there is no voting system which follows all the rules of fairness? How about creating CGI mountains using nothing but triangles? How about finding the best way to equally divide a pizza?
I’ll admit I didn’t bother to sit down and work through the exercises, but that’s the advantage of reading a textbook for fun. If you’re somebody who has even a passing interest in how numbers affect the everyday world, this is a good place to start.
June 8, 2025
Excellent book!
July 24, 2020
Some disclaimers:
* I borrowed this book from my institution's library
* I didn't attempt to access let alone use the on-line feature
* My main interest was the social choice theory oriented material in Part 1 of the text. Hence, I skimmed the remainder of the book.
The intention of the "Excursions ..." is expose the non-mathematical university student to some highly applicable mathematics drawn from relatively recently developed topics. Think, for the sake of better term, the "maths for poets" course that some universities offer (or compel) students from the humanities to take.
The book covers, in basic terms, social choice theory (voting, fair division, apportionment), graph theory (travelling salesman, networks, scheduling), symmetry and fractals, discrete iterative equations (logistic growth but no chaos, financial equations like compounding interest etc) and some probability and statistics.
To clarify the "modern" in the title consider that STEM students typically will take a calculus course and a linear algebra course in their first year. Calculus was born in the 17th century. While the problem of solving linear systems is an ancient one (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nin... ) it got systematic treatment (in Europe) in the 17th century as well. With the development of matrices and their inverses perhaps we can say Linear algebra proper had a 19th century birth. Much of the content in Tannenbaum's book, although often inspired by old problems, is teaching maths developed in the mid-twentieth century.
The text does a generally good job of presenting the material to its target audience. Its colourful, has plenty of pictures/graphs, lots of white space, and a chatty prose style. Many examples are drawn from everyday activities or interests - popular sports, TV programs, elections etc. Problem sets are graded as "Walk", "Jog" and "Run" to indicate difficulty which is helpful while not off putting. The choice of content is interesting and I believe much of it would be easy for the non-maths student to see as useful and relevant.
The negatives are:
* the book is expensive (close to $300 AUD at the time of writing) and its hard to justify making a student spend that much for a book in most cases let alone a course outside their specialisation .
* the book is intended for an American audience so educators outside of the USA will need to supplement the existing examples or replace them
* its long -- ~600 pages -- so you're unlikely to use all the content.
* statistics is covered in numerous other places better for the social scientist, the discrete equations section only just hints at the chaos so doesn't really get to the modern material.
Overall, its good excursion but I'm glad I didn't pay for it.
* I borrowed this book from my institution's library
* I didn't attempt to access let alone use the on-line feature
* My main interest was the social choice theory oriented material in Part 1 of the text. Hence, I skimmed the remainder of the book.
The intention of the "Excursions ..." is expose the non-mathematical university student to some highly applicable mathematics drawn from relatively recently developed topics. Think, for the sake of better term, the "maths for poets" course that some universities offer (or compel) students from the humanities to take.
The book covers, in basic terms, social choice theory (voting, fair division, apportionment), graph theory (travelling salesman, networks, scheduling), symmetry and fractals, discrete iterative equations (logistic growth but no chaos, financial equations like compounding interest etc) and some probability and statistics.
To clarify the "modern" in the title consider that STEM students typically will take a calculus course and a linear algebra course in their first year. Calculus was born in the 17th century. While the problem of solving linear systems is an ancient one (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nin... ) it got systematic treatment (in Europe) in the 17th century as well. With the development of matrices and their inverses perhaps we can say Linear algebra proper had a 19th century birth. Much of the content in Tannenbaum's book, although often inspired by old problems, is teaching maths developed in the mid-twentieth century.
The text does a generally good job of presenting the material to its target audience. Its colourful, has plenty of pictures/graphs, lots of white space, and a chatty prose style. Many examples are drawn from everyday activities or interests - popular sports, TV programs, elections etc. Problem sets are graded as "Walk", "Jog" and "Run" to indicate difficulty which is helpful while not off putting. The choice of content is interesting and I believe much of it would be easy for the non-maths student to see as useful and relevant.
The negatives are:
* the book is expensive (close to $300 AUD at the time of writing) and its hard to justify making a student spend that much for a book in most cases let alone a course outside their specialisation .
* the book is intended for an American audience so educators outside of the USA will need to supplement the existing examples or replace them
* its long -- ~600 pages -- so you're unlikely to use all the content.
* statistics is covered in numerous other places better for the social scientist, the discrete equations section only just hints at the chaos so doesn't really get to the modern material.
Overall, its good excursion but I'm glad I didn't pay for it.
July 13, 2015
The excursions were fine, but the mini excursions were not long enough.
December 20, 2016
This was a very fun math book.
January 26, 2019
A math book.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews