The Joy of Mathematics

This book is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and Ian Stewart, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick and bestselling science and science fiction writer. For Ian Stewart, mathematics is far more than dreary arithmetic, while mathematical thinking is one of the most important—and overlooked—aspects of contemporary society. This wide-ranging conversation explores what mathematics is and why it's worth doing, symmetry, networks and patterns, the relationship between logic and proof, the role of beauty in mathematical thinking, the future of mathematics, linking mathematical oscillations to animal gaits, how to deal with the peculiarities of the mathematical community, and much more.


This carefully-edited book includes an introduction, Counting Sheep, and questions for discussion at the end of each chapter:

I. Fear and Loathing - Mathematics and the wider world
II. Doing Mathematics - An insider’s view
III. Teaching Mathematics - How to get unstuck and other valuable lessons
IV. Mathematics and Gender - Portuguese mysteries
V. Mathematics Everywhere - And widely underappreciated



About Ideas Roadshow Conversations:


This book is part of an expanding series of 100+ Ideas Roadshow conversations, each one presenting a wealth of candid insights from a leading expert through a focused yet informal setting to give non-specialists a uniquely accessible window into frontline research and scholarship that wouldn't otherwise be encountered through standard lectures and textbooks.