Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities

This book, Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities by Prof. Ian Stewart focuses on the weirdest things inside his legendary cabinet. Perhaps because he knew that the most interesting kind of math is not the one being taught at in school, Prof. Stewart collected in his cabinet math games, puzzles, stories, and factoids that had purposes of being read by those who love adventure. In this book, the reader finds hidden treasures of logic, geometry, and probabilities - just how a person would extract cherry from a cocktail glass, to pop-up a dodecahedron. In this book, too, the reader will learn why he can not divide anything by zero. It is a very interesting part of the book. We always know that diving something by zero is ridiculous and cannot be. But in this book we are showed why not so.

We also find in this book, in different chapters, the Fermat's last theorem, the Poincare conjecture, chaos theory, and the P=NP problem. They are in discussed in the book in a very interesting and fun way.

Rock, Paper, Scissors

When I first read the title Rock, Paper, Scissors, I thought it is very interesting to have a book title that way. It made me remember my childhood when I used to play Jack 'en Poy with the other kids. Having said that, I  also became curious what does this game got to do with mathematics? In the books Rock, Paper, Scissors by Dr. Len Fisher, he focused on the "science of cooperation" which will make a person really think hard and ponder upon. Fisher showed how the game theory helped the scientists, especially the biologists, comprehend the developments of cooperation in our environment and learn how we can adapt these things in our daily lives. With experiments that made him discover things in dinner parties, supermarkets, Indian roads, and Australia, he also discovered about the baseball strategies and the specifics of quantum mechanics. The findings are sometimes funny, and most of the times disturbing. Reading Rock, Paper, Scissors by Dr. Len Fisher made me understand a lot of environmental and global issues in the society. It made me understand people's role in the society.

Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities

A reaction paper on Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities

By: Ian Stewart

  In life we encounter trials that make us a better person, likewise a person that is outlawed by problems making us suffer from it. People handle problems differently, some handle it with ease, while others are misguided by it. Likewise, birds travel to different places when the seasons are starting to shift, finding a better way in order to manifest an absolute solitude during climate change.

                

                  Ian Stewart is a realist that implies knowledge by seeking it in a different manner, loving something that is against the odds, a very good concept as to how define a thing that is not similar to their habitual ways. Yes, mathematics may be interpreted in several ways by different people, described and derived by its many purpose.

                      

              The book Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities opens up the imaginative perspective that will became the stimulus for exercising the hunger for mathematical and logical learning, thus developing our awareness for the amazing discoveries that hides beneath the mathematical formulas, and theories, uncovering knowledge beyond human imagination.

  Ian Stewart gives a perspective that mathematics have different regions, branches that will navigate into different parts, thus giving us a better picture of it, games is an example, the mathematical patterns embedded within the game symbolizes that it is a branch of mathematics. Like Ian Stewart we can find a better way of appreciating things, being open-minded is always needed to become a genuine individual that will symbolize an entity who would propagate as a stimulus for others appreciation.

Rock, Paper, Scissors

A reaction paper on Rock, Paper, Scissors

Game theory on Everyday life

By: Len Fisher Ph.D.

We people are accustomed to things that are within, or around us, with our awareness to the things that co-exist with us that more or less corresponds to our synchronization and management that we intake in our everyday lives. We tent to base our intellectual judgments by the things that we are accustomed to, siding to the things that are co-related to our perspective, meaning biased judgment.

Rock, Paper, Scissors, a Game theory on Everyday life by Len Fisher Ph.D. explains concludes that our chances of resolving problems revolves around two main ways; first by helping us to view them from a a new perspective that exposes their true underlying causes and second by providing new strategies to help us resolve them. These strategies help to balance the differences between the conflict and correlation.

Dr. Len Fisher Ph.D. showed different variables to inculcate into us the different strategies how to be a productive cooperative and to balance the diversity that we should be open-minded to probabilities that may happen, or will happen. Those probability requirements commonsense, yet, the Game theory adds  extra dimension by showing just why and how they work in different circumstances giving it a  more precise calculation. Thus, different tendency may happen, because we live in a world that calculating probability corresponds to infinity, but, it’s better to be late than sorry, it’s better to be on the upper hand.

Stewart's Cabinet of Fun Facts and Games

                At first I thought that Professor Stewart’s Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities will be dealing with different theories and analyses about mathematics. I hesitated to read the book because I don’t want to read more information about math, the four books that were already reviewed are already enough to make my head baffle but I was wrong, this book was full of fun games that Stewart filed in his notebooks.

                It is true those school maths are not interesting, the fun is not taught in school. This book had games and answers were also given at the latter pages. Stewart’s cabinet reveals hidden charms of logic, geometry and probability. There was a game in the book where you are asked how to extract a cherry from a cocktail glass. In the book, four toothpicks stood as the cocktail glass, you should only move two toothpicks to extract the cherry, after a few minutes of staring on the figure I decided to see the answer and it was just so easy. In this book, the reason why we can’t divide anything by zero was also revealed. The ideas behind the games were already the keys to Fermat’s last theorem, Poincare conjecture, chaos theory and the million dollars problem, P=NP. There were three mathematical jokes in the book but it was a little bit hard to comprehend, maybe I'm not in to mathematics.

                I have observed that some phrases and games that were taught by our professor in class came from Professor’s Stewart cabinet. It was a good thing that our professor used them because for me, I find it fun and it is unforgettable. It is a good strategy to use humor or games in teaching mathematics so that it will not be dreary and students will interact with their mentor. If this strategy was used in grade school, maybe students today will not loathe mathematics and will learn to love it.

The Cabinet

When he was fourteen, Ian Stewart’s, one of the best known mathematicians alive, started a maths notebook. Like a magpie he collected every interesting thing he could find out about the maths that wasn’t taught at school. His notebook became six, then spilled into Professor Stewart’s Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities. Open its drawers and discover a fabulous lifetime collection of games, puzzles, stories, jokes and factoids, odd items of mathematical culture, card tricks, things to make and things to do. You will find out why the M25 is shorter anticlockwise than clockwise, and what the deal is with Fermat’s last theorem, chaos theory, fractals and Penrose patterns – and the real reason you can’t divide anything by zero. Ian Stewart has spent years filling his cabinet with intriguing mathematical games, puzzles, stories, and factoids intended for the adventurous mind. If you enjoy interesting puzzles, dorky humor, and mathematical trivia, you will probably like this book said by another blogger which I've scanned a little while ago.

 Actually, my mind is so blank, that writing this review will took me several hours to finish, but even long to finish, i'm pretty sure that the result will not be lengthy. I just don't know how and what will I write. Well, in my own opinion, this book is fascinating, but a little dragging, because for me, games, puzzles and the like don't have to be complex, I mean, things like this are made to entertain us not make our lives somehow complicated. I'm honestly not pretty sure with all this stuff I’m saying, it’s just a pure opinion that I, myself, is not that certain.

 This book contain servings of nourishing bits of intellectual history: Fibonacci series, Fermat's last theorem, chaos theory, the four color problem, what Byron wrote about Newton, Euler's conjecture, public key cryptography, the inventor of the equals sign, Zeno's paradox, how the Babylonians handled number, the probability theory of monkeys and typewriters, the square root of minus one, celestial resonance and how the Egyptians did fractions with hieroglyphs.

WHO DOES NOT KNOW THIS?

 “I think it’s fair to say that personal computers have become the most empowering tool we’ve ever created. They’re tools of communication, they’re tools of creativity, and they can be shaped by their user.”

                                                                                                                        -Bill Gates

C- omplex

O- perational

M- odern

P- rocessor

U- seful

T- echnological

E- ducational

R- eliable

S- pecific source

            Considering all of these attributes of a computer, one could really agree with the powerful statement of Gates above. Computers are indeed one of the greatest creations of mankind. Such wow should be offered to the life-changing accomplishments of the pioneers of computer and its software which includes Gates himself.

            Some may contradict this statement but whether these people like it or not, admit it or not, the truth is still there for them to face and that is the existence of computers wherever they set their eyes upon and wherever they go. The unstoppable era of computer had come and had a great impact in our lives. It has played a huge part in the lives of the present generation and will still continue to dominate until the next generations to come.

            This is now the stand of our group: to make the whole class realize the importance or major contributions of computers to them as well as to the other people from the past years that had passed through.

            Our group allocated one day for our games and fun stuff and another day for the debate and our live creative presentation. 

          During the first day, unfortunately, the copy of the game I made which I presumed to be very interesting and unique was corrupted due to acquired virus in my flash drive. I knew it! There would really be problems yet nothing could be done in unexpected technical error like this to happen. It’s just that it’s too basic for us to anymore be noticed. I really felt hurt with this and I feared our dear professor might be very disappointed as well.

            Taking control of the situation, we proceeded to the next game which was prepared by my group mate who was absent that time. It was a charade- like game wherein a group representative will let his or her group mates guess the given word or set of words in connection with computers. They all found the game so easy yet another glitch turned out to be with the scoring system and our group found some bias with it too.

            Second day came and we made all necessary preparations prior to these to assure us of better and smooth-sailing outcome this time. We started off with a debate with regards to the advantages and disadvantages of computers in different aspects and perspectives. The issues were resolved through the conclusion that computers are indeed advantageous in general but some disadvantages may occur and it is on the part of the users to manage them.

            Lastly, our group discussed the history of computers and their progress in technology which we had portrayed in a form of a television show. The history of computers was then divided into five generations. The first one used vacuum tubes, second one used transistors, while the third one used silicon chips. The fourth one was differentiated only from the third by means of change in the number of circuits that can be packed into a single chip. This resulted mainly on the increase in the usage of personal computer and dramatic reduction in its cost.

            The future generation is anticipated to be able to make logical decisions for itself (artificial intelligence), and carry out several processes at the same time with one central processing unit or otherwise called as parallel processing. In the fifth generation, computers process data with light pulses instead of electrical pulses, processing data faster than anyone can ever imagine, operates in a speed of light, hundreds of times faster than computers of today.

            I hope that more students could experience and uncover the delight in tracing back the history of computers and having a more in depth research with regards to computers- major benefactors in tasks of our daily living. Besides that, no one knows what lies ahead and so we humans should just wait and see for the unexpected. As time goes by and many more improvements are very much possible, computers should stay as equally beneficial as they are at present. Advancements should not lead to the destruction of lives but instead on the betterment of our world that the other generations may follow and be inspired to take up science and technology related courses when the time comes.