具体描述
From preeminent math personality and author of The Joy of x, a brilliant and endlessly appealing explanation of calculus – how it works and why it makes our lives immeasurably better.
Without calculus, we wouldn’t have cell phones, TV, GPS, or ultrasound. We wouldn’t have unraveled DNA or discovered Neptune or figured out how to put 5,000 songs in your pocket.
Though many of us were scared away from this essential, engrossing subject in high school and college, Steven Strogatz’s brilliantly creative, down‑to‑earth history shows that calculus is not about complexity; it’s about simplicity. It harnesses an unreal number—infinity—to tackle real‑world problems, breaking them down into easier ones and then reassembling the answers into solutions that feel miraculous.
Infinite Powers recounts how calculus tantalized and thrilled its inventors, starting with its first glimmers in ancient Greece and bringing us right up to the discovery of gravitational waves (a phenomenon predicted by calculus). Strogatz reveals how this form of math rose to the challenges of each age: how to determine the area of a circle with only sand and a stick; how to explain why Mars goes “backwards” sometimes; how to make electricity with magnets; how to ensure your rocket doesn’t miss the moon; how to turn the tide in the fight against AIDS.
As Strogatz proves, calculus is truly the language of the universe. By unveiling the principles of that language, Infinite Powers makes us marvel at the world anew.
用户评价
##读Strogatz永远这么愉悦！另外知道了biology是pre-Galileo, pre-Newton的soft science。
评分##从对无限的直观认识，到发展出系统严谨的分析方法，通过微积分人类得以求解世界的规律：微积分不仅仅是工具，还是上帝的语言，小到量子，大到天体，到最后都奇迹般近乎完美地遵从数学的定理，或许这就是数学使人敬畏的魅力
评分##从对无限的直观认识，到发展出系统严谨的分析方法，通过微积分人类得以求解世界的规律：微积分不仅仅是工具，还是上帝的语言，小到量子，大到天体，到最后都奇迹般近乎完美地遵从数学的定理，或许这就是数学使人敬畏的魅力
评分##是本会让人看high的书
评分##今年的新书～
评分##特别适合学微积分的时候看
评分##以为大部分会是数学历史结果是科普.... 不过如果我在学微积分之前读的话应该会很喜欢，有些故事还是挺有趣的。
评分##读Strogatz永远这么愉悦！另外知道了biology是pre-Galileo, pre-Newton的soft science。
评分##最适合的读者是想搞理工科、且刚接触微积分的中学生。从中你可以读到教科书鲜少会涉及的微积分发展史、微积分与现代科技的关系、以及科学家的故事，相当引人入胜。当然，任何程度的读者都能有自己的收获，不过类型与多寡而已。
