Award-winning Steven Strogatz, one of the foremost popularisers of maths, has written a witty and fascinating account of maths’ most compelling ideas and how, so often, they are an integral part of everyday life. Maths is everywhere, often where we don’t even realise. Award-winning professor Steven Strogatz acts as our guide as he takes us on a tour of numbers that – unbeknownst to the unitiated – connect pop culture, literature, art, philosophy, current affairs, business and even every day life. In The Joy of X, Strogatz explains the great ideas of maths – from negative numbers to calculus, fat tails to infinity – with clarity, wit and insight. He is the maths teacher you never had and this book is perfect for the smart and curious, the expert and the beginner.

A magisterial history of calculus (and the people behind it) from one of the world's foremost mathematicians. This is the captivating story of mathematics' greatest ever idea: calculus. Without it, there would be no computers, no microwave ovens, no GPS, and no space travel. But before it gave modern man almost infinite powers, calculus was behind centuries of controversy, competition, and even death. Taking us on a thrilling journey through three millennia, professor Steven Strogatz charts the development of this seminal achievement from the days of Archimedes to today's breakthroughs in chaos theory and artificial intelligence. Filled with idiosyncratic characters from Pythagoras to Fourier, Infinite Powers is a compelling human drama that reveals the legacy of calculus on nearly every aspect of modern civilisation, including science, politics, medicine, philosophy, and much besides.

'Sync' is a story of a dazzling kind of order in the universe, the harmony that comes from cycles in sync. The tendency to sychronize is one of the most far- reaching drives in all of nature. It extends from people to planets, from animals to atoms. In 'Sync' professor Steven Strogatz considers a range of applications - human sleep and circadian rhythms, menstrual synchrony, insect outbreaks, superconductors, lasers, secret codes, heart arrhythmias and fads - connecting all trhough an exploration of the same mathematical theme: self-organisation, or the spontaneous emergence of order out of chaos. Focused enough to present a coherent world unto themselves, Strogatz's chosen topics touch on several of the hottest directions in contemporary science.

Green architecture used to be on the fringes, but it has gone mainstream and this new volume shows how, why, and where. This is not a technical handbook, but rather a guided tour from one end of the globe to another where sustainability has become both chic and indispensible. Solar panels and double glazing are taking a dent out of the high cost of energy. As always in the Architecture Now books, you can discover the latest realizations of established stars like Peter Zumthor and Bernard Tschumi, but also catch up on the rising new generation of architects, from Korea to Vietnam, from Los Angeles to Berlin. Green Architecture Now! 2 is the only place where a tunnel of flower pots by Olafur Eliasson and a Waste to Energy plant with a ski slope on top by BIG come together with a bang.

This new book from the author of 'The Music of the Primes' combines a personal insight into the mind of a working mathematician with the story of one of the biggest adventures in mathematics: the search for symmetry. This is the story of how humankind has come to its understanding of the bizarre world of symmetry – a subject of fundamental significance to the way we interpret the world around us. Our eyes and minds are drawn to symmetrical objects, from the sphere to the swastika, the pyramid to the pentagon. Symmetry indicates a dynamic relationship or connection between objects, and it is all-pervasive: in chemistry and physics the concept of symmetry explains the structure of crystals or the theory of fundamental particles; in evolutionary biology, the natural world exploits symmetry in the fight for survival; symmetry and the breaking of symmetry are central to ideas in art, architecture and music; the mathematics of symmetry is even exploited in industry, for example to find efficient ways to store more music on a CD or to keep your mobile phone conversation from cracking up through interference. Marcus du Sautoy constantly strives to push his own boundaries to find ways in which to share the excitement of mathematics with a broader audience; this book charts his own personal quest to master one of the most innate and intangible concepts, and to demonstrate the intricacy and beauty of the world around us.

A joyful ode to the enormous benefits of this most simple of activities, from one of the world's greatest explorers From the bestselling author of Silence comes an illuminating examination of the joy of walking. From those perilous first steps as a toddler, to great expeditions, from walking to work to trekking to the North Pole, Erling Kagge explains that he who walks goes further and lives better. Walking is a book about the love of exploration, the delight of discovery and the equilibrium that can be found in this most simple of activities.

The first book in a two part series from one of the greatest writers in the fantasy genre. DRAGON KEEPER returns fans to Hobbs best-loved world, full of dragons, magical ships and unforgettable characters. Dragons have returned to the world ...Guided by the dragon Tintaglia, the serpents came from the sea to fight their way up the Rain Wild River to their ancestral hatching grounds. But the fledglings that emerge from the cocoons are a travesty of the dragons of old. Flightless and fractious, they soon become a danger to all and must be moved. Thymara, a Rain Wilder born with scales and claws, answers the call to become one of the dragon keepers to accompany the creatures upriver. Their target is the legendary Elderling city of Kelsingra. But no one knows if it even exists; and no one expects the dragon keepers to return, or even survive .

The first book in a two part series from one of the greatest writers in the fantasy genre. DRAGON KEEPER returns fans to Hobbs best-loved world, full of dragons, magical ships and unforgettable characters. Dragons have returned to the world ...Guided by the dragon Tintaglia, the serpents came from the sea to fight their way up the Rain Wild River to their ancestral hatching grounds. But the fledglings that emerge from the cocoons are a travesty of the dragons of old. Flightless and fractious, they soon become a danger to all and must be moved. Thymara, a Rain Wilder born with scales and claws, answers the call to become one of the dragon keepers to accompany the creatures upriver. Their target is the legendary Elderling city of Kelsingra. But no one knows if it even exists; and no one expects the dragon keepers to return, or even survive .

What stories, mysteries and secrets can you find in the stars? A wonderful illustrated tour of the night sky for children aged 5+ years. Lara Hawthorne's beautiful illustrations take the reader on one of the most fascinating journeys that humankind has ever made and one that is common to us all. From ancient Egyptians building the pyramids, to early Polynesian sailors criss-crossing the Pacific Ocean, and astronauts travelling into space, the night sky has guided and inspired people across the world, and throughout time. Now it's your turn to look to the skies and discover the mysteries they hide.

Discover the ten things we all should know about mathematics in this fascinating collection of short essays Uncover the language of our universe - numbers - in this wide-ranging whistle-stop tour of the history and majesty of mathematics. Our world simply wouldn't function if we didn't have numbers. But where do they come from? Why do we cut cake the wrong way? How can there be different sizes of infinity? All these questions and more are answered in this engaging romp through the history of numbers by acclaimed science writer, Colin Stuart. From the mathematicians who have (and haven't) shouted 'Eureka!' to the theories that affect and inform our everyday lives; Numbers shows us that maths was never boring - we were just being taught it in the wrong way. Consisting of ten bite-sized essays, there's no better guide to this fundamental science.

The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics takes in all branches of pure and applied mathematics, from algebra to mechanics and from number theory to statistics. Invaluable for students at all levels, it is also a useful and versatile source book for economists, business people, engineers, technicians and scientists of all kinds who use mathematics in the course of their work.

From the earliest numbers carved onto bones to the discovery of quantum mechanics and chaos theory - mathematics has certainly come a long way. Fully illustrated and augmented with helpful timelines and simple diagrams, Problem Solved! reveals how these fascinating breakthroughs have brought us to the world we live in today. Covering the first inklings of geometric theory in Ancient Egypt, the invention of the ‘zero’, the problem of infinity, the use of algebra, and the modern era of computer science, there’s no need to be a calculus genius to marvel at these incredible feats of problem-solving brilliance.

Margaret Drabble is one of the major literary figures of her generation. In this collection of her complete short fiction from across four decades, she examines the intense private worlds and passions of everyday people. From one man's honeymooning epiphany in 'Hassan's Tower' to the journeying fantasies of 'A Voyage to Cythera', and from the sharp joy of 'The Merry Widow' to the bloody reality of the collection's title story, these are moving, witty and provocative tales, exploring cruel and loving relationships, social change and personal obsessions, and confirming her status as a leading practitioner of the art of the short story.

From Aristotle to Ada Lovelace: a brief history of the mathematical ideas that have forever changed the world and the everyday people and pioneers behind them. The story of our best invention yet. From our ability to calculate the passing of time to the algorithms that control computers and much else in our lives, numbers are everywhere. They are so indispensable that we forget how fundamental they are to our way of life. In this international bestseller, Mickael Launay mixes history and anecdotes from around the world to reveal how mathematics became pivotal to the story of humankind. It is a journey into numbers with Launay as a guide. In museums, monuments or train stations, he uses the objects around us to explain what art can reveal about geometry, how Babylonian scholars developed one of the first complex written languages, and how ‘Arabic’ numbers were adopted from India. It All Adds Up also tells the story of how mapping the trajectory of an eclipse has helped to trace the precise day of one of the oldest battles in history, how the course of the modern-day Greenwich Meridian was established, and why negative numbers were accepted just last century. This book is a vital compendium of the great men and women of mathematics from Aristotle to Ada Lovelace, which demonstrates how mathematics shaped the written word and the world. With clarity, passion and wisdom, the author unveils the unexpected and at times serendipitous ways in which big mathematical ideas were created. Supporting the belief that – just like music or literature – maths should be accessible to everyone, Launay will inspire a new fondness for the numbers that surround us and the rich stories they contain.

The first volume of Steven Runciman's classic, hugely influential trilogy on the history of the Crusades 'On a February day in the year AD 638 the Caliph Omar entered Jerusalem, riding upon a white camel' An enthralling work of grand historical narrative, Steven Runciman's A History of the Crusades overturned the traditional view of the Crusades as a romantic Christian adventure, and instead shifted the focus of the story to the East. With verve and drama, volume one of Runciman's trilogy tells the story of the First Crusade - from its unlikely beginnings in pilgrimage to the horrors of the siege of Jerusalem and the carving out of new territory on the edge of the eastern Mediterranean.

Featuring a giant timeline wallchart, this illustrated guide traces humankind's greatest achievements in mathematics, plotting a journey from innumerate cave-dwellers, through the towering intellects of the last 4,000 years, to where we stand today. In order to understand the universe you must know the language in which it is written. And that language is mathematics - Galileo (1564-1642) For hundreds of thousands of years, we have sought order in the apparent chaos of the universe. Mathematics has been our most valuable tool in that search, uncovering the patterns and rules that govern our world and beyond. This illustrated guide traces humankind's greatest achievements in mathematics, plotting a journey from innumerate cave-dwellers, through the towering intellects of the last 4,000 years, to where we stand today. Including a giant timeline wallchart, Foundations is a brilliant hardback reference book which charts the development of this intriguing and expansive discipline, from early history to modern day.