Perplexing Paradoxes
Unraveling Enigmas in the World Around Us
$53.59
- Hardcover
360 pages
- Release Date
6 March 2024
Summary
Why does it always seem like the elevator is going down when you need to go up? Is it really true that 0.99999 … with an infinite number of 9s after the decimal point, is equal to 1? What do tea leaves and river erosion have in common, per Albert Einstein? Does seeing a bed of red flowers help prove that all ravens are black? Can we make sense of a phrase like “this statement is unprovable”?
Exploring these questions and many more, George G. Szpiro guides readers through the puzzling …
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780231213769 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 023121376X |
| Author: | George G. Szpiro |
| Publisher: | Columbia University Press |
| Imprint: | Columbia University Press |
| Format: | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages: | 360 |
| Release Date: | 6 March 2024 |
| Weight: | 630g |
| Dimensions: | 35mm x 148mm x 223mm |
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Critics Review
Think you’ve got a fine, analytical mind? Read this book. I can’t tell you how many times I paused and thought, “OK, wait a sec … gotta read that again.” The paradoxes arising out of simple-sounding conditions were, well, mind-boggling. A must-read! – Vint Cerf, internet pioneer
Very paradoxically, paradoxes have had a great influence on the evolution of knowledge. In this book, the master expositor George G. Szpiro narrates the most important ones in his inimitable gripping style, and each is followed by a crystal-clear denouement that explains, in plain English, the resolution. Like a good box of chocolates, it is better to savor each of the chapters individually, either randomly or consecutively, than to fall into the temptation of binging all of them at once. Enjoy! – Doron Zeilberger, Board of Governors Professor of Mathematics, Rutgers University
It’s no paradox that George Szpiro, author of Numbers Rule and Pricing the Future, has written another insightful, entertaining book, this time on some of the seeming absurdities that arise in philosophy, mathematics, and real life. – Barry Cipra, author of Misteaks … and How to Find them Before the Teacher Does: A Calculus Supplement
In this breezily written book, [Szpiro] offers a brain workout that succeeds, as his subtitle has it, at ‘unraveling enigmas in the world around us’… with cogent examples from economics, law, philosophy and politics. * The Wall Street Journal *
Of immense relevance to readers with an interest in logic, language, mathematics, and the history of philosophy. Exceptionally well written, inherently fascinating, thought-provoking, and thoroughly ‘reader friendly’ in organization and presentation. * Midwest Book Review *
Starred review. * MathSciNet Mathematical Reviews *
George G. Szpiro
George G. Szpiro is an author and journalist who was a longtime correspondent for the Swiss daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung. His many books include Numbers Rule: The Vexing Mathematics of Democracy, from Plato to the Present (2010) and Risk, Choice, and Uncertainty: Three Centuries of Economic Decision-Making (Columbia, 2020). Szpiro was on the faculty at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
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