Mrs. Perkins's Electric Quilt

And Other Intriguing Stories of Mathematical Physics

Paul Nahin, Paul J. Nahin

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN:
  9780691135403
• eBook ISBN:
  9781400833467
• Topic: Mathematics
• Subtopic: Mathematics General
• Index: Mathematics

An incomparable collection of stimulating math puzzles from bestselling author Paul Nahin

What does quilting have to do with electric circuit theory? The answer is just one of the fascinating ways that best-selling popular math writer Paul Nahin illustrates the deep interplay of math and physics in the world around us in his latest book of challenging mathematical puzzles, Mrs. Perkins's Electric Quilt. With his trademark combination of intriguing mathematical problems and the historical anecdotes surrounding them, Nahin invites readers on an exciting and informative exploration of some of the many ways math and physics combine to create something vastly more powerful, useful, and interesting than either is by itself.

In a series of brief and largely self-contained chapters, Nahin discusses a wide range of topics in which math and physics are mutually dependent and mutually illuminating, from Newtonian gravity and Newton's laws of mechanics to ballistics, air drag, and electricity. The mathematical subjects range from algebra, trigonometry, geometry, and calculus to differential equations, Fourier series, and theoretical and Monte Carlo probability. Each chapter includes problems—some three dozen in all—that challenge readers to try their hand at applying what they have learned. Just as in his other books of mathematical puzzles, Nahin discusses the historical background of each problem, gives many examples, includes MATLAB codes, and provides complete and detailed solutions at the end.

Mrs. Perkins's Electric Quilt will appeal to students interested in new math and physics applications, teachers looking for unusual examples to use in class—and anyone who enjoys popular math books.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• For the Reader
• Preface
• Chapter 1 - Three Examples of the Mutual Embrace
• Chapter 2 - Measuring Gravity
• Chapter 3 - Feynman’s Infinite Circuit
• Chapter 4 - Air Drag—A Mathematical View
• Chapter 5 - Air Drag—A Physical View
• Chapter 6 - Really Long Falls
• Chapter 7 - The Zeta Function—and Physics
• Chapter 8 - Ballistics — With No Air Drag (Yet)
• Chapter 9 - Ballistics—With Air Drag
• Chapter 10 - Gravity and Newton
• Chapter 11 - Gravity Far Above the Earth
• Chapter 12 - Gravity Inside the Earth
• Chapter 13 - Quilts & Electricity
• Chapter 14 - Random Walks
• Chapter 15 - Two More Random Walks
• Chapter 16 - Nearest Neighbors
• Chapter 17 - One Last Random Walk
• Chapter 18 - The Big Noise
• Chapter 19 - Electricity in the Fourth Dimension
• Acknowledgments
• Index
• Also by Paul J. Nahin