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Kepler's Conjecture: How Some of the Greatest Minds in History Helped Solve One
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Kepler's Conjecture: How Some of the Greatest Minds in History Helped Solve One of the Oldest Math Problems in the World Hardcover - 2003

by George G. Szpiro


Summary

The fascinating story of a problem that perplexed mathematicians for nearly 400 years In 1611, Johannes Kepler proposed that the best way to pack spheres as densely as possible was to pile them up in the same way that grocers stack oranges or tomatoes. This proposition, known as Kepler's Conjecture, seemed obvious to everyone except mathematicians, who seldom take anyone's word for anything. In the tradition of Fermat's Enigma, George Szpiro shows how the problem engaged and stymied many men of genius over the centuries--Sir Walter Raleigh, astronomer Tycho Brahe, Sir Isaac Newton, mathematicians C. F. Gauss and David Hilbert, and R. Buckminster Fuller, to name a few--until Thomas Hales of the University of Michigan submitted what seems to be a definitive proof in 1998. George G. Szpiro (Jerusalem, Israel) is a mathematician turned journalist. He is currently the Israel correspondent for the Swiss daily Neue Zurcher Zeitung.

From the publisher

The fascinating story of a problem that perplexed mathematicians for nearly 400 years
In 1611, Johannes Kepler proposed that the best way to pack spheres as densely as possible was to pile them up in the same way that grocers stack oranges or tomatoes. This proposition, known as Kepler's Conjecture, seemed obvious to everyone except mathematicians, who seldom take anyone's word for anything. In the tradition of Fermat's Enigma, George Szpiro shows how the problem engaged and stymied many men of genius over the centuries--Sir Walter Raleigh, astronomer Tycho Brahe, Sir Isaac Newton, mathematicians C. F. Gauss and David Hilbert, and R. Buckminster Fuller, to name a few--until Thomas Hales of the University of Michigan submitted what seems to be a definitive proof in 1998.
George G. Szpiro (Jerusalem, Israel) is a mathematician turned journalist. He is currently the Israel correspondent for the Swiss daily Neue Zurcher Zeitung.

First line

The English nobleman and seafarer Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618) is perhaps an unlikely progenitor for an intellectual adventure.

Details

  • Title Kepler's Conjecture: How Some of the Greatest Minds in History Helped Solve One of the Oldest Math Problems in the World
  • Author George G. Szpiro
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages 296
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher John Wiley & Sons, Somerset, New Jersey, U.S.A.
  • Date January 17, 2003
  • Illustrated Yes
  • ISBN 9780471086017 / 0471086010
  • Weight 1.27 lbs (0.58 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.12 x 6.26 x 1.03 in (23.16 x 15.90 x 2.62 cm)
  • Library of Congress subjects Mathematics
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2002014422
  • Dewey Decimal Code 510

About the author

GEORGE G. SZPIRO, Ph.D., is a mathematician turned journalist. He is currently the Israel correspondent for the Swiss daily Neue Zurcher Zeitung.
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Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2003. Book. Near Fine. Hardcover. 1st. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. The fascinating story of a problem that perplexed mathematicians for nearly 400 years In 1611, Johannes Kepler proposed that the best way to pack spheres as densely as possible was to pile them up in the same way that grocers stack oranges or tomatoes. This proposition, known as Kepler's Conjecture, seemed obvious to everyone except mathematicians, who seldom take anyone's word for anything. In the tradition of Fermat's Enigma, George Szpiro shows how the problem engaged and stymied many men of genius over the centuries--Sir Walter Raleigh, astronomer Tycho Brahe, Sir Isaac Newton, mathematicians C. F. Gauss and David Hilbert, and R. Buckminster Fuller, to name a few--until Thomas Hales of the University of Michigan submitted what seems to be a definitive proof in 1998.George G. Szpiro (Jerusalem, Israel) is a mathematician turned journalist. He is currently the Israel… Read More
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