On the Number Line. The Never-Ending Story of Prime Numbers. The Mathematical Perspective. Caution: Equations. The Small Puzzles. Where Mathematics Is Created. The Book of Proofs. Three Legends. What Kinds of People Are These? What Mathematicians Can Do. Read More. Index.
Gunter M. Ziegler is a MATHEON professor at Freie Universit?Berlin. Dr. Ziegler is a member of the executive board of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, and a fellow of the American Mathematical Society. His honors include the Leibniz Prize from the German Research Foundation DFG, the Chauvenet Prize from the Mathematical Association of America, and the Communicator Award from DFG and Stifterverband. His research interests connect discrete and computational geometry (especially polytopes), algebraic and topological methods in combinatorics, discrete mathematics, and the theory of linear and integer programming. He earned a Ph.D. from MIT.
"The writing is quick-witted, entertaining, and easy to read."
—Zentralblatt MATH 1285"Rarely does one find a good general
interest math book. This book, a collection of brief, fascinating,
stand-alone essays, is the exception; it should be in libraries and
bookstores everywhere. … an absolute delight and a significant
contribution to mathematical literature for general readers and
mathematicians. Summing Up: Essential. All library
collections."
—W.R. Lee, CHOICE, May 2014"It is good to find a section in the
book where several occasions of misuse of mathematics are
explained. In the second half of the book, the focus of the author
slowly shifts from the discipline itself to where and how it is
done and who are the people in mathematics. … the way that Ziegler
describes this is still interesting to read. From the philosophical
perspective, the most interesting part of the book is the one
discussing the nature of computer proofs: can we trust them? …
after reading the book, all of us, mathematicians and
nonmathematicians, understand that we do actually know a lot more
math than we thought. However, it will never be too much."
—Peeter Müürsepp, Mathematical Reviews, March 2014"This is a
wonderful book, by a strong research mathematician at the Free
University of Berlin, about what it means ‘to do mathematics.’ … a
pleasant and worthwhile read for all who do mathematics."
—Robert E. O’Malley, Jr., SIAM Review"Do I Count? is packed full of
thought-provoking stories exploring the concept and purpose of
numbers. … children grow up not realising that mathematics has
similarly been discovered and was not ‘always there,’ and that
therefore that there is still more mathematics out there waiting to
be revealed. Ziegler seeks to remedy this misconception. Many
historical mathematicians are mentioned … . Alongside the history
there are examples of mathematical problems that have recently been
solved and others that are currently being worked on. This all
gives the reader an insight into the variety of mathematics that is
out there."
—Noel-Ann Bradshaw, LMS Newsletter, February 2014"This very
enjoyable book is informative on so many levels for specialists and
non-specialists alike."
—Peter Ruane, MAA Reviews, October 2013"In 2008, Günter M. Ziegler
won Germany’s highest distinction for the communication of science
to the general public, the Communicator Award. The award panel
honoured a young and outstanding mathematician for his special
ability to communicate results in his field in a fresh and
innovative way. His new book, Do I Count?, reaffirms this ability
to reveal the central role and beauty of mathematics, and provides
excellent and inspiring reading."
—Dr. Eva-Maria Streier, Director New York Office, German Research
Foundation (DFG)"In a book filled with humor, fascinating stories,
and graceful and imaginative writing, Günter Ziegler unlocks the
secrets of what mathematicians do and how they go about doing it.
Along the way, he touches on the making of mathematics as an
analogue of the making of love, and talks about such things as
number superstitions, prime numbers old and new, interesting
mathematical characters dead and alive, and some intriguing
mathematical questions, questions that can be understood by
virtually anyone, but which mathematicians are still trying to
answer. This is a book that everyone can enjoy—from someone who
failed high school geometry to the practicing mathematician.
Ziegler’s knowledge about the ins and outs of mathematics is
inexhaustible."
—Jacob E. Goodman, Founding Editor, Discrete & Computational
Geometry"For Ziegler, it’s a fact that doing math is a tough,
sometimes dirty, business, but also brings incredible amounts of
fun."
—Der Tagesspiegel"… [the author] succeeds, in his own way, to give
an idea of what drives mathematicians, what fascinates them, and
where they develop their research. The portraits of colleagues whom
he knows personally and whom he describes engagingly and animatedly
contribute to this substantially."
—Wolfgang Blum, Sueddeutsche Zeitung"‘Caution, formulas,’ Ziegler
warns us and advises not to take everything that’s expressed as a
formula as true, rather, to cheerfully and carefully look for
errors. This book invites the reader to look at numbers
skeptically, examine statistics carefully, and check over other
people’s calculations. The author offers this encouragement, ‘We
can’t all be below average in mathematics.’"
—Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung "Many consider mathematics as
difficult. But it is precisely that which makes it interesting for
Günter Ziegler, professor of mathematics and recipient of many
awards, … who is here starting a ‘charm offensive’ for his
discipline. His blazing argument for the field is spiced with
anecdotes and true stories, bringing to the fore its multiplicity
and the variety of the people who devote themselves to it."
—c’t "Günter M. Ziegler is professor of mathematics at the Freie
Universität Berlin and the director of the research group for
discrete geometry. He is a working mathematician who offers stories
about his friends and colleagues, their working habits, their
favorite anecdotes, their problems, and why they like being
mathematicians. He is a gifted storyteller with a delightful sense
of humor. All these provide a sense of the depth and breadth of the
field of mathematics, with an emphasis on what mathematicians do
and how they do it. Ziegler’s stories give answers to both problems
mentioned at the outset: Upon finishing the book, the reader will
know some interesting people who do mathematics and who can serve
as role models, and will understand the sense of accomplishment and
the enjoyment that comes from doing mathematics."
—Ulrich Daepp, The Mathematical Intelligencer, July 2016
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