Archimedes' Revenge: The Joys and Perils of Mathematics - Tapa blanda

Essays discuss number theory, cryptography, topology, chess playing, computers, algorithms, parallel processing, and political representation

an understand what the mathematical geniuses are thinking . . . .
* How topologists figured out the way to turn a smokestack into a bowling ball -- and why.
* How game theorists discovered that to elect the candidate of your choice you must sometimes vote for his opponent.
* How computer theorists intend to create a robot that will think for itself -- and do all the housework.
* How cryptographers have been laboring since 1822 to decipher a map that will lead to a buried treasure worth millions of dollars.
Archimedes' Revenge takes the reader on a guided tour of the world of contemporary mathematics and makes its infinite marvels comprehensible, relevant, and fun.
"A breezy and lighthearted account of a number of topics in and around the periphery of mathematics . . . Mr. Hoffman approaches mathematics as a storyteller, and a good one." -- The New York Times Book Review