The Zen of Magic Squares, Circles, and Stars

The Zen of Magic Squares, Circles, and Stars PDF Author: Clifford A. Pickover
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400841518
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 424

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Book Description
Humanity's love affair with mathematics and mysticism reached a critical juncture, legend has it, on the back of a turtle in ancient China. As Clifford Pickover briefly recounts in this enthralling book, the most comprehensive in decades on magic squares, Emperor Yu was supposedly strolling along the Yellow River one day around 2200 B.C. when he spotted the creature: its shell had a series of dots within squares. To Yu's amazement, each row of squares contained fifteen dots, as did the columns and diagonals. When he added any two cells opposite along a line through the center square, like 2 and 8, he always arrived at 10. The turtle, unwitting inspirer of the ''Yu'' square, went on to a life of courtly comfort and fame. Pickover explains why Chinese emperors, Babylonian astrologer-priests, prehistoric cave people in France, and ancient Mayans of the Yucatan were convinced that magic squares--arrays filled with numbers or letters in certain arrangements--held the secret of the universe. Since the dawn of civilization, he writes, humans have invoked such patterns to ward off evil and bring good fortune. Yet who would have guessed that in the twenty-first century, mathematicians would be studying magic squares so immense and in so many dimensions that the objects defy ordinary human contemplation and visualization? Readers are treated to a colorful history of magic squares and similar structures, their construction, and classification along with a remarkable variety of newly discovered objects ranging from ornate inlaid magic cubes to hypercubes. Illustrated examples occur throughout, with some patterns from the author's own experiments. The tesseracts, circles, spheres, and stars that he presents perfectly convey the age-old devotion of the math-minded to this Zenlike quest. Number lovers, puzzle aficionados, and math enthusiasts will treasure this rich and lively encyclopedia of one of the few areas of mathematics where the contributions of even nonspecialists count.

The Zen of Magic Squares, Circles, and Stars

The Zen of Magic Squares, Circles, and Stars PDF Author: Clifford A. Pickover
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400841518
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 424

Get Book Here

Book Description
Humanity's love affair with mathematics and mysticism reached a critical juncture, legend has it, on the back of a turtle in ancient China. As Clifford Pickover briefly recounts in this enthralling book, the most comprehensive in decades on magic squares, Emperor Yu was supposedly strolling along the Yellow River one day around 2200 B.C. when he spotted the creature: its shell had a series of dots within squares. To Yu's amazement, each row of squares contained fifteen dots, as did the columns and diagonals. When he added any two cells opposite along a line through the center square, like 2 and 8, he always arrived at 10. The turtle, unwitting inspirer of the ''Yu'' square, went on to a life of courtly comfort and fame. Pickover explains why Chinese emperors, Babylonian astrologer-priests, prehistoric cave people in France, and ancient Mayans of the Yucatan were convinced that magic squares--arrays filled with numbers or letters in certain arrangements--held the secret of the universe. Since the dawn of civilization, he writes, humans have invoked such patterns to ward off evil and bring good fortune. Yet who would have guessed that in the twenty-first century, mathematicians would be studying magic squares so immense and in so many dimensions that the objects defy ordinary human contemplation and visualization? Readers are treated to a colorful history of magic squares and similar structures, their construction, and classification along with a remarkable variety of newly discovered objects ranging from ornate inlaid magic cubes to hypercubes. Illustrated examples occur throughout, with some patterns from the author's own experiments. The tesseracts, circles, spheres, and stars that he presents perfectly convey the age-old devotion of the math-minded to this Zenlike quest. Number lovers, puzzle aficionados, and math enthusiasts will treasure this rich and lively encyclopedia of one of the few areas of mathematics where the contributions of even nonspecialists count.

The Zen Of Magic Squares,Circles And Stars

The Zen Of Magic Squares,Circles And Stars PDF Author: M K Joseph
Publisher: Universities Press
ISBN: 9788173714665
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 434

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Book Description


Islamicate Occult Sciences in Theory and Practice

Islamicate Occult Sciences in Theory and Practice PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004426973
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 721

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Book Description
Islamicate Occult Sciences in Theory and Practice brings together the latest research on Islamic occult sciences from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, namely intellectual history, manuscript studies and material culture. Its aim is not only to showcase the range of pioneering work that is currently being done in these areas, but also to provide a model for closer interaction amongst the disciplines constituting this burgeoning field of study. Furthermore, the book provides the rare opportunity to bridge the gap on an institutional level by bringing the academic and curatorial spheres into dialogue. Contributors include: Charles Burnett, Jean-Charles Coulon, Maryam Ekhtiar, Noah Gardiner, Christiane Gruber, Bink Hallum, Francesca Leoni, Matthew Melvin-Koushki, Michael Noble, Rachel Parikh, Liana Saif, Maria Subtelny, Farouk Yahya, and Travis Zadeh.

Legacy of the Luoshu

Legacy of the Luoshu PDF Author: Frank Swetz
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1439865329
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
A symbol of the Divine, a good luck charm, a cosmogram of the world order, a template for fengshui-through the ages, the luoshu, or magic squre of order three, has fascinated people of many different cultures. In this riveting account of cultural detective work, renowned mathematics educator, Frank J. Swetz relates how he uncovered the previously h

Machine Learning and Systems Engineering

Machine Learning and Systems Engineering PDF Author: Sio-Iong Ao
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9048194199
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 607

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Book Description
A large international conference on Advances in Machine Learning and Systems Engineering was held in UC Berkeley, California, USA, October 20-22, 2009, under the auspices of the World Congress on Engineering and Computer Science (WCECS 2009). Machine Learning and Systems Engineering contains forty-six revised and extended research articles written by prominent researchers participating in the conference. Topics covered include Expert system, Intelligent decision making, Knowledge-based systems, Knowledge extraction, Data analysis tools, Computational biology, Optimization algorithms, Experiment designs, Complex system identification, Computational modeling, and industrial applications. Machine Learning and Systems Engineering offers the state of the art of tremendous advances in machine learning and systems engineering and also serves as an excellent reference text for researchers and graduate students, working on machine learning and systems engineering.

The Liar Paradox and the Towers of Hanoi

The Liar Paradox and the Towers of Hanoi PDF Author: Marcel Danesi
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
ISBN: 1118045815
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
A walk through history's most mind-boggling puzzles Ever since the Sphinx asked his legendary riddle of Oedipus, riddles, conundrums, and puzzles of all sizes have kept humankind perplexed and amused. The Liar Paradox and the Towers of Hanoi takes die-hard puzzle mavens on a tour of the world's most enduringly intriguing braintwisters, from K?nigsberg's Bridges and the Hanoi Towers to Fibonacci's Rabbits, the Four Color Problem, and the Magic Square. Each chapter introduces the basic puzzle, discusses the mathematics behind it, and includes exercises and answers plus additional puzzles similar to the one under discussion. Here is a veritable kaleidoscope of puzzling labyrinths, maps, bridges, and optical illusions that will keep aficionados entertained for hours. Marcel Danesi (Etobicoke, ON, Canada) is the author of Increase Your Puzzle IQ

Not to Perish

Not to Perish PDF Author: Lee B. Croft
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 0578004682
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Book Description
As the co-authors present 13 of American Prof. of Russian Lee B. Croft's scholarly articles (in English with Russian examples), the articles fascinate as they advance the reader's knowledge of: glossolalia, poetic decipherment and translation, language philosophy and psychology, linguistic iconicity and language universals, an American Nobel-laureate scientist's inspiration, literary pornography, pervasive triplicity, spontaneous human combustion and polylingual alphamagic squares.

From Music to Mathematics

From Music to Mathematics PDF Author: Gareth E. Roberts
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 142141919X
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
A guided tour of the mathematical principles inherent in music. Taking a "music first" approach, Gareth E. Roberts's From Music to Mathematics will inspire students to learn important, interesting, and at times advanced mathematics. Ranging from a discussion of the geometric sequences and series found in the rhythmic structure of music to the phase-shifting techniques of composer Steve Reich, the musical concepts and examples in the book motivate a deeper study of mathematics. Comprehensive and clearly written, From Music to Mathematics is designed to appeal to readers without specialized knowledge of mathematics or music. Students are taught the relevant concepts from music theory (notation, scales, intervals, the circle of fifths, tonality, etc.), with the pertinent mathematics developed alongside the related musical topic. The mathematics advances in level of difficulty from calculating with fractions, to manipulating trigonometric formulas, to constructing group multiplication tables and proving a number is irrational. Topics discussed in the book include • Rhythm • Introductory music theory • The science of sound • Tuning and temperament • Symmetry in music • The Bartók controversy • Change ringing • Twelve-tone music • Mathematical modern music • The Hemachandra–Fibonacci numbers and the golden ratio • Magic squares • Phase shifting Featuring numerous musical excerpts, including several from jazz and popular music, each topic is presented in a clear and in-depth fashion. Sample problems are included as part of the exposition, with carefully written solutions provided to assist the reader. The book also contains more than 200 exercises designed to help develop students' analytical skills and reinforce the material in the text. From the first chapter through the last, readers eager to learn more about the connections between mathematics and music will find a comprehensive textbook designed to satisfy their natural curiosity.

Across the Board

Across the Board PDF Author: John J. Watkins
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691154988
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
Discusses the mathematics of the chessboard and its problems, focusing on its history, the knight's tour problem, magic squares, domination, other variations, and independence.

Dreaming the Future

Dreaming the Future PDF Author: Clifford A. Pickover
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1615924175
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 461

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Book Description
For countless generations people of every culture have practiced a broad range of dramatic and sometimes frightening techniques to peer into the future. In this fascinating book acclaimed author Clifford Pickover presents a nearly exhaustive list of fortune-telling techniques, from the ominous practice of human sacrifice to reading clues on the Internet.Pickover not only explores a vast and colorful array of methods of prediction--including dreaming--he also evaluates the accuracy of some of the most astonishing prophecies made throughout history. Just how accurate were such famous soothsayers as Nostradamus, the Delphic Oracle, Edgar Cayce, the children of Fatima (whose third vision has only recently been revealed), and dozens more?This book takes us one step further by exploring our own inner psyches: Why does looking into the future provide a source of solace in a world filled with uncertainty, disease, and chance? And why do the most noted prognosticators so often warn of natural catastrophes of biblical proportions, such as earthquakes and floods that will signal the end of the world?Through insight and wit, Pickover will unlock the door of your imagination with engrossing mysteries, intriguing illustrations, and even modern patents and computer techniques. Also included is a range of practical experiments and recipes--from Stone Age to New Age.Prepare yourself for a strange but captivating ride!