Traces the life of one of the world's most brilliant mathematicians from his youth in pre-war Poland and his training under Steinhaus to his post-graduate work at Johns Hopkins, Cornell, and Princeton and his research and teachings today

Enigmas of Chance: An Autobiography

Biographies & Memoirs

Kac, Mark

Professionals & Academics

Harpercollins

Mathematics and Logic: Retrospect and Prospects (Pelican)

Penguin

Enigmas Of Chance

Science & Math

Basic Books

What is mathematics? How was it created and who were and are the people creating and practicing it? Can one describe its development and role in the history of scientific thinking and can one predict the future? This book is a thought-provoking attempt to answer such questions and to suggest the scope and depth of the subject. The volume begins with a discussion of problems involving integers in which ideas of infinity appear and proceeds through the evolution of more abstract ideas about numbers and geometrical objects. The authors show how mathematicians came to consider groups of general transformations and then, looking upon the sets of such subjects as spaces, how they attempted to build theories of structures in general. Also considered here are the relations between mathematics and the empirical disciplines, the profound effect of high-speed computers on the scope of mathematical experimentation, and the question of how much mathematical progress depends on "invention" and how much on "discovery." For mathematicians, physicists, or any student of the evolution of mathematical thought, this highly regarded study offers a stimulating investigation of the essential nature of mathematics.

Mathematics and Logic (Dover Books on Mathematics)

Politics & Social Sciences

Ulam, Stanislaw M.

Philosophy

Dover Publications

This concise monograph in probability by Mark Kac, a well-known mathematician, presumes a familiarity with Lebesgue's theory of measure and integration, the elementary theory of Fourier integrals, and the rudiments of number theory. Readers may then follow Dr. Kac's attempt "to rescue statistical independence from the fate of abstract oblivion by showing how in its simplest form it arises in various contexts cutting across different mathematical disciplines." The treatment begins with an examination of a formula of Vieta that extends to the notion of statistical independence. Subsequent chapters explore laws of large numbers and Émile Borel's concept of normal numbers; the normal law, as expressed by Abraham de Moivre and Andrey Markov's method; and number theoretic functions as well as the normal law in number theory. The final chapter ranges in scope from kinetic theory to continued fractions. All five chapters are enhanced by problems.

Statistical Independence in Probability, Analysis and Number Theory (Dover Books on Mathematics)

Mathematics

Univ. Of California Pr.

This is a volume of essays and reviews that delightfully explores mathematics in all its moods ― from the light and the witty, and humorous to serious, rational, and cerebral. These beautifully written articles from three great modern mathematicians will provide a source for supplemental reading for almost any math class. Topics include: logic, combinatorics, statistics, economics, artificial intelligence, computer science, and broad applications of mathematics. Readers will also find coverage of history and philosophy, including discussion of the work of Ulam, Kant, and Heidegger, among others.

Discrete Thoughts: Essays on Mathematics, Science and Philosophy

Birkhauser

This is a volume of essays and reviews that delightfully explores mathematics in all its moods' from the light and the witty, and humorous to serious, rational, and cerebral. These beautifully written articles from three great modern mathematicians will provide a source for supplemental reading for almost any math class. Topics include: logic, combinatorics, statistics, economics, artificial intelligence, computer science, and broad applications of mathematics. Readers will also find coverage of history and philosophy, including discussion of the work of Ulam, Kant, and Heidegger, among others.

Discrete Thoughts, Second Edition: Essays on Mathematics, Science and Philosophy (Modern Birkhäuser Classics)

Birkhäuser Boston

Probability and Related Topics in Physical Sciences (Lectures in Applied Mathematics Series, Vol 1A)

Research

Amer Mathematical Society

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Statistical Independence in Probability, Analysis and Number Theory. --

Hassell Street Press

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