Archimedes' Revenge: The Joys and Perils of Mathematics

by Paul Hoffman

Book Overview

Syndicated columnist Paul Hoffman provides an acclaimed account of the world of modern mathematicians in the bestselling tradition of accessible scientists Stephen Jay Gould and Tracey Kidder. An... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393025225
• ISBN13: 9780393025224
• Release Date: January 1988
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 285 Pages
• Weight: 1.22 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Archemides Revenge by Paul Hoffman

This book is perfect for math buffs. The author discusses theintricacies of dot patterns, prime numbers, codes, geometricshapes, conic forms, states and the Palindrom check-just tomention a few of the topics treated. Math majors would find thiswork a delight. It is perfect for a school math project.You could also develop a thesis from some of the challengesproposed in this book. It is worth the price for personsinterested in higher mathematics and the sciences. It could beuseful for computer scientists and machine language specialists.

Great for non-math types to see the wonder of math

Most people have math-phobia, which is too bad, because math exhibits a certain beauty and perfection. The great thing about Paul Hoffman's "Archimedes' Revenge" is that he shows you the beauty and perfection without your having to be a math major to understand.Moreover, for anyone who's wondered what use math is, Hoffman can answer that as well. Among the subjects covered are: cryptology (code making and code breaking), architecture, computer science, and political science.The book is divided into a number of sections, ranging from number theory to topology to game theory. While these may sound like esoteric (and useless) concepts, Hoffman masterfully weaves in stories, such as the (in)famous Beale cipher, a secretly coded treasure map that has resisted all attempts to crack it for over 100 years.I recommended to a colleague of mine that she buy this book for her teenage son, who is bright but a slacker. She reported that he raved about the book and was so eager to discuss it with her!As an example of the sort of thing covered in this book, Hoffman describes a game where A, B, and C all have balloons and darts. A hits his target 80% of the time; B hits his target 60% of the time; and C hits his target 40% of the time. If each person attacks his strongest opponent, who wins most often? Surprisingly, the answer is C, because A and B concentrate their attacks on each other.In summary, if you have math-phobia but would like to conquer it, this is a great place to start. There are no equations to speak of, just concepts explained in (relatively) plain English. It may take a couple of readings to understand it all, but it's definitely within grasp for those who progressed no farther than Algebra 2 in high school.

Interesting tour of math and its applications

I found the book to be rather interesting, and not difficult to understand. A scientific or mathematical background is an added plus while reading the book. I felt that it got bogged down in some sections, but they were of little interest to me and skipping them did not hinder the overall effect of the book. Enjoyable light reading, for if you ever thought,"What the hell is math good for?". Good section on cryptology.

Wierdness in Mathematics

You may have thought math was cut and dry. This book blows that thought away. In easy to understand, lay language, this book explains some of the wierdness in mathematics. A must read for computer science people.

Number theory, game theory, and other obscure branches

Hoffman was very readable, especially the section on number theory. Only the last few chapters on game theory got bogged down in the technicalities.