Search results for ""Author Chris Waring""

If memories of learning algebra bring you out in a cold sweat and thoughts of quadratic equations cause you feelings of fear and dread, I Used to Know That: Maths can help. A light-hearted and informative reminder of the things that we learnt in school but have since become relegated to the backs of our minds, this book will help you to brush up on your mental arithmetic, including percentages, averages and recurring decimals or work on your trigonometry skills, from Pythagoras' theorem to triangle areas and angles. It can be used a practical guide to turn to when an answer is eluding you, from helping a child with homework to calculating change or understanding statistics. I Used to Know That: Maths is a fun and accessible way to re-visit all those useful tips and maths tricks that you have forgotten from your school days.

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Whether you paid much attention to the mathematics you were taught at school or not, the inescapable truth is that one day, an equation could just save your life.The real world is full of equations and a lot of our everyday decisions are calculated - we just don’t always realize it. And that’s ok - you unthinkingly use differentiation when you’re crossing the road between traffic and you will pretty much always make it to the other side safely. But what if you were plummeting to your death in a plane with no engine and you needed to know what size parachute to make from your cabinmate’s sari in order to jump and survive? Or you were in charge of pinpointing the origins of an important message from outer space? These entirely plausible real-life situations clearly require a little more thought. From how to work out the best guard configuration to protect a world-famous painting in the Louvre to saving the planet from total blackout during an ene

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Mathmatters is a humorous guide to the hidden calculations that are essential to everything we do.From making a cup of coffee to negotiating traffic to selecting candidates for an interview, we can’t make it through the day without employing some essential mathematics. Did you know that there are some serious calculations involved in making the perfect cup of coffee (involving ratios)? That an understanding of Braess's paradox will mean you can remain calm about road closures on your commute as they may make your journey faster (using equations relating to speed/distance/time)? Or that your online shopping habit can teach you about game theory (mathematical models of strategies)? Full of easy-to-understand mathematics and fun, if not entirely helpful, illustrations, Mathmatters is your essential guide to understanding the rules and measures that surround us every day, and determine the outcome of every move we make, every button we press and much of our decision-making, whether we are aware of it or not.

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Like it or not, maths is a part of everyday life. Whether we learned only basic arithmetic, or went on to study calculus and beyond, we need it, and use it, constantly. But only very rarely were we taught its back story.From the theories of Pythagoras (did you know he ran a secret brotherhood that studied maths, music and gymnastics?) to Ada Lovelace (one of the few notable pre-twentieth-century female mathematicians who is considered to be the first ever computer programmer), From 0 to Infinity shows how the major discoveries and developments fundamentally changed the way we see the world. Do you want to learn about why the Ancient Greeks knew so much maths? Or why there was so little maths studied in the Dark Ages? Read this fascinating book to uncover the surprising stories behind maths.

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