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What is the lost way to photograph a speeding bullet? Why does light move through glass in the least amount of time possible? How can lost hikers find their way out of a forest? What will rainbows look like in the future? Why do soap bubbles have a shape that gives them the least area? By combining the mathematical history of extrema with contemporary examples, Paul J. Nahin answers these intriguing questions and more in this engaging and witty volume. He shows How life often works at the extremes---wit values becoming as small as Possible---and how mathematicians over the centuries have struggled to calculate these problems of minima and maxima. From Medieval writtings to the development of modern calculus to the current field of optimisation, Nahin tells the story of Dido`s problem, Fermat and Descartes, Torricelli, Bishop Berkeley, Goldschmidt, and more, Along the way, he explores how to build the shortest bridge possible between two towns, how to shop for garhage bagfs, how to vary speed during a race, and how to make the perfect basketball shot. ISBN 9788173715105
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Pages : 392
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