Mathematicians do not know in advance if their assertions are true, so they need to verify assertions with rigorous proofs or produce counterexamples, then attempt to salvage the assertions by transforming them into theorems. Extending the Frontiers of Mathematics: Inquiries into proof and argumentation invites students to experience this progression of mathematical discovery.  Burger's informal, humorous writing style and intriguing puzzles engage students throughout the learning process.  The innovative text offers a discovery-based approach that is ideally suited for use in a proofs course, a discrete math course, or any bridge course to more abstract mathematics.

Dr. Edward Burger is a professor mathematics at Williams College in Williamstown, MA. He received his BA from Connecticut College and his PhD from University of Texas at Austin.
He has received numerous awards including: the "Nelson Bushnell Prize", for Scholarship and Teaching, Williams College, being listed among the?top 100 best Math Teachers in the ?"100 Best of America", Reader's Digest's Annual Special Issue.? He has also received the "Award of Excellence", for 'educational mathematics videos that break new ground', from Technology & Learning magazine.
His research interests include Algebraic Number Theory, Diophantine Analysis, p-adic Analysis, Geometry of Numbers, and?the Theory of Continued Fractions.