The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics: Fourth Edition (Penguin Reference Library) [Paperback]

David Nelson (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 30, 2008 | Series: Penguin Reference Library

Covering all branches of pure and applied mathematics, including algebra, geometry, mechanics, and statistics, The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics is invaluable for students at the high school or university level. It is also a useful and versatile source book for economists, business people, engineers, technicians, scientists of all kinds, and anyone else who uses mathematics in the course of daily work.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A masterpiece."
-New Scientist

About the Author

David Nelson, born in 1938, was educated at Calday Grange Grammar School, Cheshire, and won an open mathematical scholarship to Christ's College, Cambridge. After postgraduate work in mathematical logic at Cambridge and Bristol universities, he entered the teaching profession. He has published papers in mathematical journals and is a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications.

Since 1981 he has been a Lecturer in Education at the University of Manchester specializing in mathematics education and the history of mathematics. His recent publications include Extension of Calculus and Multicultural Mathematics. He has lectured in Poland, Italy and France, and in 1995, at the invitation of the State Education Committee of the People's Republic of China, organised and led a three week National Seminar on Mathematics Education to initiate reform of the Chinese national mathematics curriculum.

His main recreations are playing the flute and piano, gardening and squash. His wife, Gillian is a writer and they have three small children.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); 4th edition (December 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141030232
• ISBN-13: 978-0141030234
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #850,774 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Handy reference, January 29, 2002

By 

Ppaul (Gauteng, South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (Penguin Reference Books) (Paperback)

This book is useful for anyone doing maths at college. It summarizes just about everything and is good as a quick reference to refresh your memory on something. (It is also fun just to page through, and look at all the wierd things that mathematicians have come up with). Another advantage is that if you are studying a section in maths that you are finding a little confusing or hard to grasp, the entry in this dictionary will give the important points. But don't expect too much detail, which I think is the main drawback of the book.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really, really helpful!, April 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dictionary of Mathematics, The Penguin (Dictionary, Penguin) (Paperback)

Anybody who regularly does math on a more-or-less advanced level will delight in this book; it is exhaustive but managable (the size of a common pocket novel, really) and quite concise. Buyers should realize, of course, that books like these are not meant to learn you calculus or whatever; instead, it is more of a helpful hand when you need it. Now, what was that formula for partial integration, again...?

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended for college mathematics students, June 24, 2005

By 

Christopher Cho (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (Penguin Reference Books) (Paperback)

As a student studying mathematics, I find it very useul! Packed with 3200 terms and 200 illustrations, It's a great quick reference guide. I found things in this guide that I couldn't find in any other book or guide. Another thing about this reference guide is the lack of poor illustrations and examples. Some things this guide helped me with is PARABOLAS, ELLIPSES, HYPERBOLAS, GAMMA FUNTION, ZETA FUNCTION, FEIGENBAUM NUMBER, THE GREEK ALPHABET, and much more. I thank David Nelson and Penguin Books for such excellent work.