{"product_id":"9781489996268","title":"The Mathematical Coloring Book: Mathematics of Coloring and the Colorful Life of its Creators","description":"\u003ch1\u003eThe Mathematical Coloring Book: Mathematics of Coloring and the Colorful Life of its Creators\u003c\/h1\u003e \u003ch2\u003eSoifer, Alexander; Grünbaum, Branko; Johnson, Peter; Rousseau, Cecil\u003c\/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis is a unique type of book; at least, I have never encountered a book of this kind. The best description of it I can give is that it is a mystery novel, developing on three levels, and imbued with both educational and philosophical\/moral issues. If this summary description does not help understanding the particular character and allure of the book, possibly a more detailed explanation will be found useful. One of the primary goals of the author is to interest readers—in particular, young mathematiciansorpossiblypre-mathematicians—inthefascinatingworldofelegant and easily understandable problems, for which no particular mathematical kno- edge is necessary, but which are very far from being easily solved. In fact, the prototype of such problems is the following: If each point of the plane is to be given a color, how many colors do we need if every two points at unit distance are to receive distinct colors? More than half a century ago it was established that the least number of colorsneeded for such a coloring is either 4, or 5, or 6 or 7. Well, which is it? Despite efforts by a legion of very bright people—many of whom developed whole branches of mathematics and solved problems that seemed much harder—not a single advance towards the answer has been made. This mystery, and scores of other similarly simple questions, form one level of mysteries explored. In doing this, the author presents a whole lot of attractive results in an engaging way, and with increasing level of depth.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003ch3\u003eDetails\u003c\/h3\u003e \u003cp\u003ePublished by: Springer\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePublication Date: 2014-11-16\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFormat: Paperback\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eISBN-13: 9781489996268\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDOI: 10.1007\/978-0-387-74642-5\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDimensions: 235cm x155cm\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePages: 607\u003c\/p\u003e ","brand":"Springer New York","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46547619184780,"sku":"9781489996268","price":179.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0710\/9545\/1788\/files\/9781489996268_c0a09216-5530-4120-9582-7beda653fe35.jpg?v=1772929376","url":"https:\/\/lateknightbooks.com\/products\/9781489996268","provider":"Late Knight Books and Services, LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}