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Paul J. Nahin, "Mrs. Perkins's Electric Quilt: And Other Intriguing Stories of Mathematical Physics"

What does quilting have to do with electric circuit theory? The answer is just one of the fascinating ways that best-selling popular math writer Paul Nahin illustrates the deep interplay of math and physics in the world around us in his latest book of challenging mathematical puzzles, Mrs. Perkins's Electric Quilt. With his trademark combination of intriguing mathematical problems and the historical anecdotes surrounding them, Nahin invites readers on an exciting and informative exploration of some of the many ways math and physics combine to create something vastly more powerful, useful, and interesting than either is by itself.

In a series of brief and largely self-contained chapters, Nahin discusses a wide range of topics in which math and physics are mutually dependent and mutually illuminating, from Newtonian gravity and Newton's laws of mechanics to ballistics, air drag, and electricity. The mathematical subjects range from algebra, trigonometry, geometry, and calculus to differential equations, Fourier series, and theoretical and Monte Carlo probability. Each chapter includes problems--some three dozen in all--that challenge readers to try their hand at applying what they have learned. Just as in his other books of mathematical puzzles, Nahin discusses the historical background of each problem, gives many examples, includes MATLAB codes, and provides complete and detailed solutions at the end.

Mrs. Perkins's Electric Quilt will appeal to students interested in new math and physics applications, teachers looking for unusual examples to use in class--and anyone who enjoys popular math books.

Summary: The mathematics dominates the physics and the problems are excellent

Rating: 5

The mathematics largely dominates the physics in this book, the problems vary in the level of their physics difficulty but the math level stays pretty constant. In nearly all cases, understanding integrals, some of which are complex, is necessary if you are to understand the solution. Generally speaking, the physics problems are understandable by anyone that has a fundamental understanding of the principles of physics. A strong course in high school physics would be adequate preparation.

Many of the problems have a tone of the absurd to them, yet that what makes them appealing. For example, section 10.3 describes how much energy it would take to blow up a planet, as the dreaded Death Star did in the first "Star Wars" movie. Another set of problems is based on the hollow Earth absurdity and Jules Verne's classic story "Journey to the left of the Earth." The problem from which the title is derived is based on the tiling of a square region using only square pieces, which could be used to construct a quilt. It is transformed into a problem in electricity by making the quilt a plate of pieces of metal through which electricity will flow.

This book would be an ideal resource for a course in mathematical physics or engineering that is more informal. The problems are the type that students would truly have fun with and they are sufficiently challenging so that they are worthy of advanced students. Mathematics instructors with a physics background could also incorporate some of the problems into applied math courses. I know my students would have loved to see the problem of blowing up a planet worked out.

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Rating:
2.5 out of 5 by Book123