Common activities, such as skipping, playing football, growing flowers, measuring saving accounts and many others are inherently mathematical. The text is centred on real-world phenomenon, such as how tall can one grow? Why do we get stuck in traffic? Can California water shortages be alleviated by towing icebergs from Antarctica? What is the fastest the 100-metre dash will ever be run? This text uses maths and reasoning together, to produce models to explain everything from the US federal debt to the proper technique for ski-jumping.
Table of Contents
Preface Ch. 2Alligator Eggs and the Federal Debt Ch. 3Controlling Growth and Perceiving Spread Ch. 4Little Things Falling from the Sky Ch. 5Big Things Falling from the Sky Ch. 6Towing and Melting Enormous Icebergs: Part I Ch. 7Towing and Melting Enormous Icebergs: Part II Ch. 8A Better Way to Score the Olympics Ch. 9How to Calculate the Economic Energy of a Nation Ch. 10How to Start Football Games, and Other Probably Good Ideas Ch. 11Gigantic Numbers and Extreme Exponents Ch. 12Ups and Downs of Professional Football Ch. 13A Tower, a Bridge, and a Beautiful Arch Ch. 14Jumping Ropes and Wind Turbines Ch. 15The Crisis of the Deficit: Gompertz to the Rescue Ch. 16How to Reduce the Population with Differential Equations Ch. 17Shot Puts, Basketballs, and Water Fountains Ch. 18Balls and Strikes and Home Runs Ch. 19Hooks and Slices and Holes in One Ch. 20Happy Landings in the Snow Ch. 21Water Waves and Falling Dominoes Ch. 22Something Shocking about Highway Traffic Ch. 23How Tall Will I Grow? Ch. 24How Fast Can Runners Run? References Index
Accolades
Runner-up for Choice Magazine Outstanding Reference/Academic Book Award 1999.
Author Biography
Robert B. Banks was a Professor of Engineering at Northwestern University and Dean of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He served with the Ford Foundation in Mexico City and with the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok. He won numerous national and international honors, including being named Commander of the Order of the White Elephant by the King of Thailand and Commandeur dans l'Ordre des Palmes Academiques by the government of France.
