Mrs. Perkins's Electric Quilt: And Other Intriguing Stories of Mathematical Physics

by Paul J. Nahin

An incomparable collection of stimulating math puzzles from bestselling author Paul Nahin

What does quilting have to do with electric circuit theory? The answer is just one of the fascinating ways that best-selling popular math writer Paul Nahin illustrates the deep interplay of math and physics in the world around us in his latest book of challenging mathematical puzzles, Mrs. Perkins's Electric Quilt . With his trademark combination of intriguing mathematical problems and the historical anecdotes surrounding them, Nahin invites readers on an exciting and informative exploration of some of the many ways math and physics combine to create something vastly more powerful, useful, and interesting than either is by itself.

In a series of brief and largely self-contained chapters, Nahin discusses a wide range of topics in which math and physics are mutually dependent and mutually illuminating, from Newtonian gravity and Newton's laws of mechanics to ballistics, air drag, and electricity. The mathematical subjects range from algebra, trigonometry, geometry, and calculus to differential equations, Fourier series, and theoretical and Monte Carlo probability. Each chapter includes problems―some three dozen in all―that challenge readers to try their hand at applying what they have learned. Just as in his other books of mathematical puzzles, Nahin discusses the historical background of each problem, gives many examples, includes MATLAB codes, and provides complete and detailed solutions at the end.

Mrs. Perkins's Electric Quilt will appeal to students interested in new math and physics applications, teachers looking for unusual examples to use in class―and anyone who enjoys popular math books.

Genres: Physics, Science, Mathematics, Puzzles

424 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Paul J. Nahin is professor emeritus of electrical engineering at the University of New Hampshire and the author of many best-selling popular math books, including The Logician and the Engineer and Will You Be Alive 10 Years from Now? (both Princeton).

Reviews

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable trip through some fun physics problems! There is some overlap with Nahin's book In Praise of Simple Physics, but the analysis remains fun and conversational. You get to see how even very simple physics problems can have surprising connections (Mrs. Perkin's Quilt is related to circuit diagrams, for example). It covers a good variety of problems with a focus on a combination of math and physics rather than just one or the other being preeminent in solving problems. It covers gravity, circuits, air drag/ballistics, and random walks. Each chapter is self-contained (though it is definitely helpful to go through in order), and the problems are worked out in full detail with challenge problems that have solutions at the back of the book.

I quite enjoy this type of thing, and often learn interesting or clever ways of solving problems that seem extremely difficult at first. You get to see how to be creative in looking at problems and how problems in one domain can translate into others. You will need to understand calculus and all prerequisites in order to follow the book, however. If you have a weak math background, this will be a struggle.

[Tonymcgrail · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's very complicated

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The section on gravitation is excellent. Nahin has a good book here, as usual.

[Tim Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very much the kind of maths I did as a precocious teenager. Indeed, half of it I *did* do (squared rectangles, gravity calculations), inspired by Martin Garner.

[Erickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will re-read this again once mastering at least calculus, since that's the least knowledge to be known.