With this fun romp through the world of equations we encounter in our everyday lives, you'll find yourself flipping through the stories of fifty-two formulas faster than a deck of cards. John M. Henshaw's intriguing true accounts, each inspired by a different mathematical equation, are both succinct and easy to read. His tales come from the spheres of sports, business, history, the arts, science, and technology. Anecdotes about famous equations, like E=mc2, appear alongside tales of not-so-famousbut equally fascinatingequations, such as the one used to determine the SPF number for sunscreen.
Drawn from the breadth of human endeavor, Henshaw's stories demonstrate the power and utility of math. He entertains us by exploring the ways that equations can be used to explain, among other things, Ponzi schemes, the placebo effect, ""dog years,"" IQ, the wave mechanics of tsunamis, the troubled modern beekeeping industry, and the Challenger disaster. Smartly conceived and fast paced, his book offers something for anyone curious about math and its impacts.
Preface 1. As the Earth Draws the Apple 2. And All the Children Are Above Average 3. The Lady with the Mystic Smile 4. The Heart Has Its Reasons 5. AC/DC 6. The Doppler Effect 7. Do I Look Fat in These Jeans? 8. Zeros and Ones 9. Tsunami 10. When the Chips Are Down 11. A Stretch of the Imagination 12. Woodstock Nation 13. What Is (Pi)? 14. No Sweat 15. Road Range 16. The Bends 17. It's Not the Heat, It's the Humidity 18. The World's Most Beautiful Equation 19. Breaking the Law 20. The Mars Curse 21. Eureka! 22. A Penny Saved... 23. If I Only Had a Brain 24. Because It Was There 25. Four Eyes 26. Bee Sting 27. Here Comes the Sun 28. A Leg to Stand On 29. Love Is a Roller Coaster 30. Loss Factor 31. A Slippery Slope 32. Transformers 33. A House of Cards 34. Let There Be Light 35. Smarty Pants 36. As Old as the Hills 37. Can You Hear Me Now? 38. Decay Heat 39. Zero, One, Infinity 40. Terminal Velocity 41. Water, Water, Everywhere 42. Dog Days 43. Body Heat 44. Red Hot 45. A Bolt from the Blue 46. Like Oil and Water 47. Fish Story 48. Making Waves 49. A Drop in the Bucket 50. Fracking Unbelievable 51. Take Two Aspirins and Call Me in the Morning 52. The World's Most Famous Equation Bibliography Index
