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The Mathematical Magpie Paperback – April 4, 1997

by Clifton Fadiman (Author)

5 customer reviews

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The companion volume to Fantasia Mathematica, first published in 1962, this second anthology of mathematical writings is even more varied than the first and contains stories, cartoons, essays, rhymes, music, anecdotes, aphorisms, and other oddments. Authors include Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Mark Twain, Lewis Carroll, and many other renowned figures. Like its predecessor, this wide-ranging collection will prove to be fascinating and entertaining reading for anyone with an interest in mathematics.

The Mathematical Magpie

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Product Details

Paperback: 303 pages
Publisher: Copernicus; 2nd edition (April 4, 1997)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 038794950X
ISBN-13: 978-0387949505
Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,377,155 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #11651 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Criticism & Theory
- #20316 in Books > Science & Math > Mathematics

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4.4 out of 5 stars

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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

A great sequel

By Bill Smythe on May 3, 2000

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

This anthology might as well be titled Fantasia Mathematica, Volume 2. When Volume 1 first appeared in 1958, readers couldn't get enough, so this work followed in 1962, and is now back in print. I first read Volume 1 as a teenager, so the current title doesn't carry for me the nostalgia of the original, but there's still lots of good stuff. This time, the best section appears first, A Set of Imaginaries, to get the reader hooked. Two of the better stories are The Appendix And The Spectacles, and Coconuts. As with the original, you don't have to be mathematically inclined, but it helps -- or does it hurt?

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

The appearance of mathematical ideas in fiction was both exciting and inspiring

By Charles Ashbacher HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on October 2, 2007

Format: Paperback

Being a fundamental component of the human experience, it is natural that mathematics will appear in literature. In this book, Fadiman has brought together a collection of fiction works where mathematics plays a role in the plot. The level of involvement is varied, in some stories it is fundamental and in others it is incidental. However, in all cases it is exciting to see how it is used to flesh out a significant story.
The level of mathematics is rarely beyond what the educated person would expect to pick up in high school and when it does exceed that plateau, it is nothing that cannot be understood from the context. Many areas are included, from music to verse. I enjoyed the stories, they were a joy to read and as a writer, they caused me toss around some mathematical ideas that I would like to try to exploit in a fictional context. They are successful in two areas, exciting and inspiring.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

exothermic or endothermic?

By Robert C. ross TOP 500 REVIEWER on June 17, 2015

Format: Paperback

Found in my garage sale, and sold for $.50. [I paid $.25 at a garage sale ten years ago.]

Whatever the price, this is a wonderful collection of stories and articles about mathematics. One of the current "chestnuts" online is the essay on temperature, which was reprinted from a 1960 magazine article.

"Is hell exothermic or endothermic? Support your answer with a proof."

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:

"First, we postulate that if souls exist, then they must have some mass. If they do, then a mole of souls can also have a mass. So, at what rate are souls moving into hell and at what rate are souls leaving? I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.

As for souls entering hell, lets look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all people and all souls go to hell.

With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in hell to increase exponentially.

Now, we look at the rate of change in volume in hell. Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in hell to stay the same, the ratio of the mass of souls and volume needs to stay constant.

So, if hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter hell, then the temperature and pressure in hell will increase until all hell breaks loose.Read more ›

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The appearance of mathematical ideas in fiction was both exciting and inspiring

By Charles Ashbacher HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on October 2, 2007

Format: Paperback

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1 of 6 people found the following review helpful

Why, why, why

By Douglas Forney on February 5, 2008

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

This looks like a good book. I heard about it from my math teacher and read the sample online. My question is, why would anyone want to pay over $50 for a copy of the same book they can get for $14? Are the pages made of gold? I recommend the book to anyone who wants a lighthearted look at numbers.

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