(Fall, 2001 Edition)
Recent Books of Mathematical Interest (10/12/2001) (Updated 12/2019)
Prepared by:
Joseph Malkevitch
Mathematics and Computing Department
York College (CUNY)
Jamaica, New York 11451-0001
Email: malkevitch@york.cuny.edu (for additions, suggestions, and corrections)
Adams, C., The Knot Book, W.H. Freeman, New York, 1994.
An extraordinary introduction to the theory of knots which makes the transition from
basic ideas to research problems.
Anderson, M. and S. Fienberg, Who Counts? The Politics of Census-Taking in Contempary America,
Russell Sage Foundation, New York, 2001.
An historical accounts of how the census has been conducted and a discussion
statistical tools that have been developed to make the count more accurate.
Brams, S. and A. Taylor, Fair Division, Cambridge U. Press, New York, 1996.
An excellent survey of fair division methods as well as development of dramatic new
results of the authors.
Cohen, J., How Many People Can the Earth Support?, W.W. Norton, New York, 1995.
An analysis and critique of population growth models.
Conway, J. and R. Guy, The Book of Numbers, Copernicus (Springer-Verlag), New York,
1996.
An exciting look at numbers from many non-standard vantage points.
Cromwell, P., Polyhedra, Cambridge U. Press, New York, 1997.
A history of polyhedra from ancient to modern times which includes much information
about the geometry of polyhedra along with the history.
Dauben, J., Abraham Robinson, Princeton U. Press, Princeton, 1995.
A comprehensive biography of the inventor of non-standard analysis.
de Berg, M. and M. van Krevald, M. Overmars, O. Schwarzkopf, Computational Geometry:
Algorithms and Applications, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1997.
A very recent survey of ideas in computational geometry.
Fauvel, J. and R. Flood, M. Shortland, R. Wilson, Let Newton Be! Oxford U. Press,
New York, 1990.
An engrossing collection of essays about Newton the man and his works.
Fomin, D. and S. Genkin, I. Itenberg, Mathematical Circles (Russian Experience), Volume
7, Mathematical World, American Mathematical Society, Providence, 1996.
A collection of problems cutting across all aspects of mathematics with a very rich
substrate of ideas.
Frederickson, G., Dissections: Plane & Fancy, Cambridge U. Press, New York, 1997.
A delightful collection of ideas about geometric dissection problems in two and three
dimensions.
Gardner, M., The Colossal Book of Mathematics, W.W. Norton, New York, 2001.
An extensive collection of articles by Martin Gardner that have been updated
especially for this volume. The articles constitute 50 essays
that originally appeared
in Scientific American.
Gay, D., Geometry by Discovery, John Wiley, New York, 1998.
A survey of many aspects of geometry including symmetry, polyhedra, and conics; many
nice activities.
Gerdes, Paulus, Geometry from Africa: Mathematical and Educational Explorations, Mathematical
Association of America, Washington, 1999.
A beautifully illustrated book with which delightfully balances mathematics with visual
images.
Golomb, S., Polyominoes (Revised edition), Princeton U. Press, Princeton, 1994.
This is an update of Golomb's classical book on polyominoes, which includes some of
the progress made since the original volume appeared.
Golomb, S. and R.. Peile, R. Scholtz, Basic Concepts in Information Theory and Coding,
Plenum Press, New York, 1994.
The mathematics behind such technologies as fax, compact discs, and cellular phones.
Codes of various kinds.
Gullberg, J., Mathematics from the Birth of Numbers, W.W. Norton, New York, 1997.
An encyclopedic treatment of mathematics; many worked problems and examples. Lots
of historical notes.
Guy, R. and R. Woodrow, (eds.), The Lighter Side of Mathematics, Mathematical Association
of American, Washington, 1994.
A collection of articles about various topics in "recreational" mathematics, including
tilings, puzzles, games, coloring problems, and number theory.
Jensen, T. and B. Toft, Graph Coloring Problems, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1995.
A wonderful source of unsolved problems and information about graph coloring problems.
Körner, T., The Pleasures of Counting, Cambridge U. Press, New York, 1997.
A series of extraordinary essays which mix historical and biographical information
with a variety of non-standard applications. Unusual for treating many recent 20th
century developments.
Macrae, N., John von Neumann, Pantheon Books, New York, 1992.
A biography of one of the men who helped shape 20th century mathematics.
Nowakowski, R. (ed.), Games of No Chance, Cambridge U. Press, New York, 1996.
A collection of papers about combinatorial games that show the rich fabric of mathematical ideas that are necessary to attack problems in what some people take only to be recreational mathematics. Includes A. Fraenkel's comprehensive biography of combinatorial game theory.
Parshall, K. and D. Rowe, The Emergence of the American Mathematical Research Community,
1876-1900: J.J. Sylvester, Felix Klein, and E. H. Moore, American Mathematical Society,
Providence, 1994.
A comprehensive look at the evolution of research mathematics in America with fascinating
information about the early contributors to mathematics research in America and the
European mathematicians they interacted with.
Peitgen, H. and H. Jurgens, D. Saupe, Chaos and Fractals, Springer-Verlag, 1992.
This nearly 1000 page book provides a comprehensive but readable account of the geometry
of fractals, iterated functions, and chaos.
Pickover, C., The Math Book, Sterling, New York, 2009.
This is one of Pickover's many books. Facing pages consist of a page of text describing some mathemathical result, person, or historical event illustrated with a graphic or picture associated with this mathematical "nugget."
Poundstone, W., Prisoner's Dilemma, Doubleday, New York, 1992.
A survey of the work done on the well known paradoxical game and the people who have
contributed to understanding it.
Rudin, W., The Way I Remember It, American Mathematical Society, Providence, 1997.
Rudin recounts his life in Europe before coming to the United States. (The book also
contains technical comments about his mathematical work.)
Stewart, I. and M. Golubitsky, Fearful Symmetry: Is God a Geometer?, Blackwell, Oxford,
1992.
The relation between symmetry in science and mathematics.
Taylor, A., Mathematics and Politics, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1995.
An introduction to such topics as weighted voting, political games, and election systems.
Wells, D., You are a Mathematician, Penguin Books, New York, 1995.
A wonderful collection of essays and problems on a wide variety of topics.
Wrixon, F., Codes and Ciphers, Prentice-Hall, New York, 1992.
An alphabetical listing of names and topics related to codes and ciphers. Full of
both interesting historical and technical information.
Young, H., Equity: In Theory and Practice, Princeton University Press, Princeton,
1994.
A wonderful survey of the ways that mathematical thinking brings structure and understanding
to questions about elections, bankruptcy, taxes, games, apportionment, and a host
of other problems.
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