What shall we talk about? New book by UC Riverside mathematician has 777 suggestions

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

John and I attended Stevens together and both belonged to the same
fraternity. There is a wonderful illustration with me and a famous farberism
(the only living person illustrated in the book). Fun book and great
illustrations.

Dave

What shall we talk about? New book by UC Riverside mathematician has 777
suggestions
(January 13, 2003)


Author John de Pillis with Jay Leno, host of the Tonight Show, NBC.
------------------------------------------------------------------------RIVE
RSIDE, Calif. - Ever had difficulty getting a conversation started? John de
Pillis, emeritus professor of mathematics at UC Riverside, has useful
suggestions to help us out.

His new book "777 Mathematical Conversation Starters" (The Mathematical
Association of America, 2002, 368 pages) shows that there are few degrees of
separation between mathematics and topics that provoke interesting
conversations. 

The topics presented in this unique book are accessible to mathematicians
and non-mathematicians alike. They include thought-provoking conversation
starters, such as: the value of fame; why language matters; the anatomy of
thought; how we know what we know; how the Pythagorean theorem (with very
little physics) shows that Einstein was correct about time dilation and
distance contraction; and, how mathematics produces intuition-defying
examples. 

The crossover book presents material that is of interest to the curious
reader who may or may not have advanced mathematical training. There is
material for those who choose to explore special relativity at an elementary
level, while those who wish to delve more deeply are provided with detailed
equations and explanations.

Examples of talking points covered in the book are: How does the dry spot
under a car after rain illustrate the difference between induction and
deduction? Why was Monty Hall upset when mathematicians analyzed the Monty
Hall problem? When does one bite of a potato become a life-altering
experience? How can a finite amount of ink paint an infinite surface? And
what is often referred to as "the weirdest result" in mathematics?

<snip>

http://www.newsroom.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/display.cgi?id=319

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