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The Calculus
A Genetic Approach
Otto Toeplitz
University of Chicago Press, 2007

When first published posthumously in 1963, this bookpresented a radically different approach to the teaching of calculus.  In sharp contrast to the methods of his time, Otto Toeplitz did not teach calculus as a static system of techniques and facts to be memorized. Instead, he drew on his knowledge of the history of mathematics and presented calculus as an organic evolution of ideas beginning with the discoveries of Greek scholars, such as Archimedes, Pythagoras, and Euclid, and developing through the centuries in the work of Kepler, Galileo, Fermat, Newton, and Leibniz. Through this unique approach, Toeplitz summarized and elucidated the major mathematical advances that contributed to modern calculus.

Reissued for the first time since 1981 and updated with a new foreword, this classic text in the field of mathematics is experiencing a resurgence of interest among students and educators of calculus today.

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Casanova's Lottery
The History of a Revolutionary Game of Chance
Stephen M. Stigler
University of Chicago Press, 2022
The fascinating story of an important lottery that flourished in France from 1757 to 1836 and its role in transforming our understanding of the nature of risk.

In the 1750s, at the urging of famed adventurer Giacomo Casanova, the French state began to embrace risk in adopting a new Loterie. The prize amounts paid varied, depending on the number of tickets bought and the amount of the bet, as determined by each individual bettor. The state could lose money on any individual Loterie drawing while being statistically guaranteed to come out on top in the long run. In adopting this framework, the French state took on risk in a way no other has, before or after. At each drawing the state was at risk of losing a large amount; what is more, that risk was precisely calculable, generally well understood, and yet taken on by the state with little more than a mathematical theory to protect it.

Stephen M. Stigler follows the Loterie from its curious inception through its hiatus during the French Revolution, its renewal and expansion in 1797, and finally to its suppression in 1836, examining throughout the wider question of how members of the public came to trust in new financial technologies and believe in their value. Drawing from an extensive collection of rare ephemera, Stigler pieces together the Loterie’s remarkable inner workings, as well as its implications for the nature of risk and the role of lotteries in social life over the period 1700–1950. 

Both a fun read and fodder for many fields, Casanova's Lottery shines new light on the conscious introduction of risk into the management of a nation-state and the rationality of playing unfair games.
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The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis, Second Edition
Jane E. Miller
University of Chicago Press, 2013
Many different people, from social scientists to government agencies to business professionals, depend on the results of multivariate models to inform their decisions.  Researchers use these advanced statistical techniques to analyze relationships among multiple variables, such as how exercise and weight relate to the risk of heart disease, or how unemployment and interest rates affect economic growth. Yet, despite the widespread need to plainly and effectively explain the results of multivariate analyses to varied audiences, few are properly taught this critical skill.

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis
is the book researchers turn to when looking for guidance on how to clearly present statistical results and break through the jargon that often clouds writing about applications of statistical analysis. This new edition features even more topics and real-world examples, making it the must-have resource for anyone who needs to communicate complex research results.

For this second edition, Jane E. Miller includes four new chapters that cover writing about interactions, writing about event history analysis, writing about multilevel models, and the “Goldilocks principle” for choosing the right size contrast for interpreting results for different variables. In addition, she has updated or added numerous examples, while retaining her clear voice and focus on writers thinking critically about their intended audience and objective. Online podcasts, templates, and an updated study guide will help readers apply skills from the book to their own projects and courses.

This continues to be the only book that brings together all of the steps involved in communicating findings based on multivariate analysis—finding data, creating variables, estimating statistical models, calculating overall effects, organizing ideas, designing tables and charts, and writing prose—in a single volume. When aligned with Miller’s twelve fundamental principles for quantitative writing, this approach will empower readers—whether students or experienced researchers—to communicate their findings clearly and effectively.
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The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, Second Edition
Jane E. Miller
University of Chicago Press, 2015
Earning praise from scientists, journalists, faculty, and students, The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers has helped thousands of writers communicate data clearly and effectively. Its publication offered a much-needed bridge between good quantitative analysis and clear expository writing, using straightforward principles and efficient prose. With this new edition, Jane Miller draws on a decade of additional experience and research, expanding her advice on reaching everyday audiences and further integrating non-print formats.
Miller, an experienced teacher of research methods, statistics, and research writing, opens by introducing a set of basic principles for writing about numbers, then presents a toolkit of techniques that can be applied to prose, tables, charts, and presentations. Throughout the book, she emphasizes flexibility, showing writers that different approaches work for different kinds of data and different types of audiences.

The second edition adds a chapter on writing about numbers for lay audiences, explaining how to avoid overwhelming readers with jargon and technical issues. Also new is an appendix comparing the contents and formats of speeches, research posters, and papers, to teach writers how to create all three types of communication without starting each from scratch. An expanded companion website includes new multimedia resources such as slide shows and podcasts that illustrate the concepts and techniques, along with an updated study guide of problem sets and suggested course extensions.

This continues to be the only book that brings together all the tasks that go into writing about numbers, integrating advice on finding data, calculating  statistics, organizing ideas, designing tables and charts, and writing prose all in one volume. Field-tested with students and professionals alike, this holistic book is the go-to guide for everyone who writes or speaks about numbers.
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Climate Games
Experiments on How People Prevent Disaster
Talbot M. Andrews, Andrew W. Delton, and Reuben Kline
University of Michigan Press, 2024
Can humanity work together to mitigate the effects of climate change? Climate Games argues we can. This book brings together a decade and a half of experimentation, conducted by researchers around the world, which shows that people can and will work together to prevent disasters like climate change. These experiments, called economic games, put money on the line to create laboratory disasters. Participants must work together by spending a bit of money now to prevent themselves from losing even more money in the future. Will people sacrifice their own money to prevent disaster? Can people make wise decisions? And can people decide wisely on behalf of others? The answer is a resounding yes. 

Yet real climate change is a complex social dilemma involving the world’s nearly eight billion inhabitants. In the real world, the worst effects of climate change are likely to be felt by developing countries, while most of the decisions will be made by rich, industrialized countries. And while the world as a whole would be better off if all nations reduced their greenhouse gas emissions, any given nation could decide it would be even better off if it continued emitting and let other nations take care of the problem. These disaster experiments test how real people respond to climate change’s unique constellation of challenges and deliver a positive message: People will prevent disaster.
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Commutative Semigroup Rings
Robert Gilmer
University of Chicago Press, 1984
Commutative Semigroup Rings was the first exposition of the basic properties of semigroup rings.  Gilmer concentrates on the interplay between semigroups and rings, thereby illuminating both of these important concepts in modern algebra.
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Computers in Education
A Half-Century of Innovation
Robert Smith
CSLI, 2015
Described by the New York Times as a visionary “pioneer in computerized learning,” Patrick Suppes (1922-2014) and his many collaborators at Stanford University conducted research on the development, commercialization, and use of computers in education from 1963 to 2013. Computers in Education synthesizes this wealth of scholarship into a single succinct volume that highlights the profound interconnections of technology in education. By capturing the great breadth and depth of this research, this book offers an accessible introduction to Suppes’s striking work.
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A Concise Course in Algebraic Topology
J. P. May
University of Chicago Press, 1999
Algebraic topology is a basic part of modern mathematics, and some knowledge of this area is indispensable for any advanced work relating to geometry, including topology itself, differential geometry, algebraic geometry, and Lie groups. This book provides a detailed treatment of algebraic topology both for teachers of the subject and for advanced graduate students in mathematics either specializing in this area or continuing on to other fields.

J. Peter May's approach reflects the enormous internal developments within algebraic topology over the past several decades, most of which are largely unknown to mathematicians in other fields. But he also retains the classical presentations of various topics where appropriate. Most chapters end with problems that further explore and refine the concepts presented. The final four chapters provide sketches of substantial areas of algebraic topology that are normally omitted from introductory texts, and the book concludes with a list of suggested readings for those interested in delving further into the field.
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A Condensed Course of Quantum Mechanics
Pavel Cejnar
Karolinum Press, 2014
This book represents a concise summary of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics for physics students at the university level. The text covers essential topics, from general mathematical formalism to specific applications. The formulation of quantum theory is explained and supported with illustrations of the general concepts of elementary quantum systems. In addition to traditional topics of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics—including single-particle dynamics, symmetries, semiclassical and perturbative approximations, density-matrix formalism, scattering theory, and the theory of angular momentum—the book also covers modern issues, among them quantum entanglement, decoherence, measurement, nonlocality, and quantum information. Historical context and chronology of basic achievements is also outlined in explanatory notes. Ideal as a supplement to classroom lectures, the book can also serve as a compact and comprehensible refresher of elementary quantum theory for more advanced students.
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A Course in Econometrics
Arthur S. Goldberger
Harvard University Press, 1991

This text prepares first-year graduate students and advanced undergraduates for empirical research in economics, and also equips them for specialization in econometric theory, business, and sociology.

A Course in Econometrics is likely to be the text most thoroughly attuned to the needs of your students. Derived from the course taught by Arthur S. Goldberger at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and at Stanford University, it is specifically designed for use over two semesters, offers students the most thorough grounding in introductory statistical inference, and offers a substantial amount of interpretive material. The text brims with insights, strikes a balance between rigor and intuition, and provokes students to form their own critical opinions.

A Course in Econometrics thoroughly covers the fundamentals—classical regression and simultaneous equations—and offers clear and logical explorations of asymptotic theory and nonlinear regression. To accommodate students with various levels of preparation, the text opens with a thorough review of statistical concepts and methods, then proceeds to the regression model and its variants. Bold subheadings introduce and highlight key concepts throughout each chapter.

Each chapter concludes with a set of exercises specifically designed to reinforce and extend the material covered. Many of the exercises include real microdata analyses, and all are ideally suited to use as homework and test questions.

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Creatively Undecided
Toward a History and Philosophy of Scientific Agency
Menachem Fisch
University of Chicago Press, 2017
Thomas Kuhn and Karl Popper are believed by many who study science to be the two key thinkers of the twentieth century. Each addressed the question of how scientific theories change, but they came to different conclusions.
 
By turning our attention to ambiguity and indecision in science, Menachem Fisch, in Creatively Undecided, offers a new way to look at how scientific understandings change. Following Kuhn, Fisch argues that scientific practice depends on the framework in which it is conducted, but he also shows that those frameworks can be understood as the possible outcomes of the rational deliberation that Popper viewed as central to theory change. How can a scientist subject her standards to rational appraisal if that very act requires the use of those standards? The way out, Fisch argues, is by looking at the incentives scientists have to create alternative frameworks in the first place. Fisch argues that while science can only be transformed from within, by people who have standing in the field, criticism from the outside is essential. We may not be able to be sufficiently self-critical on our own, but trusted criticism from outside, even if resisted, can begin to change our perspective—at which point transformative self-criticism becomes a real option. 
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The Creativity Code
Art and Innovation in the Age of AI
Marcus du Sautoy
Harvard University Press, 2020

“A brilliant travel guide to the coming world of AI.”
—Jeanette Winterson


What does it mean to be creative? Can creativity be trained? Is it uniquely human, or could AI be considered creative?

Mathematical genius and exuberant polymath Marcus du Sautoy plunges us into the world of artificial intelligence and algorithmic learning in this essential guide to the future of creativity. He considers the role of pattern and imitation in the creative process and sets out to investigate the programs and programmers—from Deep Mind and the Flow Machine to Botnik and WHIM—who are seeking to rival or surpass human innovation in gaming, music, art, and language. A thrilling tour of the landscape of invention, The Creativity Code explores the new face of creativity and the mysteries of the human code.

“As machines outsmart us in ever more domains, we can at least comfort ourselves that one area will remain sacrosanct and uncomputable: human creativity. Or can we?…In his fascinating exploration of the nature of creativity, Marcus du Sautoy questions many of those assumptions.”
Financial Times

“Fascinating…If all the experiences, hopes, dreams, visions, lusts, loves, and hatreds that shape the human imagination amount to nothing more than a ‘code,’ then sooner or later a machine will crack it. Indeed, du Sautoy assembles an eclectic array of evidence to show how that’s happening even now.”
The Times

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Criteria for Divisibility
N. N. Vorobyov
University of Chicago Press, 1980
N. N. Vorob'ev's Criteria for Divisibility introduces the high school or early college student to a specific number-theoretic topic and explains the general mathematical structures which underlie the particular concepts discussed. Vorob'ev discusses the ideas of well-ordered sets, partial and linear orderings, equivalence relations, equivalence classes, algorithms, and the relationship between the determinability of algorithms defined on the integers and the well-ordering principle.

All this is done comprehensively with the help of a unique plan for study which encourages the student to skip large sections of the book on first reading and return to them later. The more general and conceptually challenging material appears in small print, so that the student must have a good grasp of the number-theoretic concepts on which the generalizations are based before making the step to generalization. The booklet provides both specific knowledge in a particular field of mathematical investigation and a fine basis on which to continue studies in mathematics.
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The Cult of Pythagoras
Math and Myths
Alberto A. Martinez
University of Pittsburgh Press, 2012
In this follow-up to his popular Science Secrets, Alberto A. Martínez discusses various popular myths from the history of mathematics: that Pythagoras proved the hypotenuse theorem, that Archimedes figured out how to test the purity of a gold crown while he was in a bathtub, that the Golden Ratio is in nature and ancient architecture, that the young Galois created group theory the night before the pistol duel that killed him, and more. Some stories are partly true, others are entirely false, but all show the power of invention in history. Pythagoras emerges as a symbol of the urge to conjecture and “fill in the gaps” of history. He has been credited with fundamental discoveries in mathematics and the sciences, yet there is nearly no evidence that he really contributed anything to such fields at all. This book asks: how does history change when we subtract the many small exaggerations and interpolations that writers have added for over two thousand years?

The Cult of Pythagoras is also about invention in a positive sense. Most people view mathematical breakthroughs as “discoveries” rather than invention or creativity, believing that mathematics describes a realm of eternal ideas. But mathematicians have disagreed about what is possible and impossible, about what counts as a proof, and even about the results of certain operations. Was there ever invention in the history of concepts such as zero, negative numbers, imaginary numbers, quaternions, infinity, and infinitesimals?

Martínez inspects a wealth of primary sources, in several languages, over a span of many centuries. By exploring disagreements and ambiguities in the history of the elements of mathematics, The Cult of Pythagoras dispels myths that obscure the actual origins of mathematical concepts. Martínez argues that an accurate history that analyzes myths reveals neglected aspects of mathematics that can encourage creativity in students and mathematicians.

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The Cult of Statistical Significance
How the Standard Error Costs Us Jobs, Justice, and Lives
Stephen T. Ziliak and Deirdre N. McCloskey
University of Michigan Press, 2010

“McCloskey and Ziliak have been pushing this very elementary, very correct, very important argument through several articles over several years and for reasons I cannot fathom it is still resisted. If it takes a book to get it across, I hope this book will do it. It ought to.”

—Thomas Schelling, Distinguished University Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, and 2005 Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics

“With humor, insight, piercing logic and a nod to history, Ziliak and McCloskey show how economists—and other scientists—suffer from a mass delusion about statistical analysis. The quest for statistical significance that pervades science today is a deeply flawed substitute for thoughtful analysis. . . . Yet few participants in the scientific bureaucracy have been willing to admit what Ziliak and McCloskey make clear: the emperor has no clothes.”

—Kenneth Rothman, Professor of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Health

The Cult of Statistical Significance shows, field by field, how “statistical significance,” a technique that dominates many sciences, has been a huge mistake. The authors find that researchers in a broad spectrum of fields, from agronomy to zoology, employ “testing” that doesn’t test and “estimating” that doesn’t estimate. The facts will startle the outside reader: how could a group of brilliant scientists wander so far from scientific magnitudes? This study will encourage scientists who want to know how to get the statistical sciences back on track and fulfill their quantitative promise. The book shows for the first time how wide the disaster is, and how bad for science, and it traces the problem to its historical, sociological, and philosophical roots.

Stephen T. Ziliak is the author or editor of many articles and two books. He currently lives in Chicago, where he is Professor of Economics at Roosevelt University. Deirdre N. McCloskey, Distinguished Professor of Economics, History, English, and Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is the author of twenty books and three hundred scholarly articles. She has held Guggenheim and National Humanities Fellowships. She is best known for How to Be Human* Though an Economist (University of Michigan Press, 2000) and her most recent book, The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce (2006).

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