HP Forum Archive 21

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a new book on irrational numbers, hmmm Message #1 Posted by Don Shepherd on 19 Mar 2012, 6:08 p.m. Look at the cover on this new book about irrational numbers. (4) (9) (16) hmmm. I hope this guy knows what irrational numbers are, or maybe he should try to get the cover changed before the book is published.

Re: a new book on irrational numbers, hmmm Message #2 Posted by Harald on 19 Mar 2012, 6:37 p.m., in response to message #1 by Don Shepherd smile :)

Re: a new book on irrational numbers, hmmm Message #3 Posted by Allen on 19 Mar 2012, 6:55 p.m., in response to message #1 by Don Shepherd I think he and the self-charging car man should get together and write a book. It would be full of wonder- and mystique!

Re: a new book on irrational numbers, hmmm Message #4 Posted by Alex S on 20 Mar 2012, 7:19 p.m., in response to message #3 by Allen Thanks, Allen. YMMD! :-)

Re: a new book on irrational numbers, hmmm Message #5 Posted by Paul Dale on 19 Mar 2012, 7:15 p.m., in response to message #1 by Don Shepherd I own a couple of this author's other books and they are decent -- lacking the formality and proofs of a proper text but easy enough to read. - Pauli

Re: a new book on irrational numbers, hmmm Message #6 Posted by Gordon Strickland on 19 Mar 2012, 7:40 p.m., in response to message #1 by Don Shepherd Utilizing Amazon's "See larger image" option, one observes that at least sqrt(1) is omitted from the list. In the author's partial defense, I understand that in a publishing project the design of the book jacket is often turned over to someone other than the author, perhaps even to a dreamy artistic type. If it is difficult to maintain sufficient oversight, mistakes like this are likely to occur.

Re: a new book on irrational numbers, hmmm Message #7 Posted by Don Shepherd on 19 Mar 2012, 7:53 p.m., in response to message #6 by Gordon Strickland Well, since the publication date is three months from now, perhaps the author can get the cover changed before they go to print! It is possible that the author just wanted to show that irrational numbers can be frequently found in the world of square roots; that's certainly true, just not all square roots. I pre-ordered the book, it's an interesting topic. I've always struggled explaining this to my middle school math students, perhaps I'll learn something.

Re: a new book on irrational numbers, hmmm Message #8 Posted by David Jedelsky on 19 Mar 2012, 8:22 p.m., in response to message #1 by Don Shepherd Common, I don't see anywhere on the cover written that sqrt(4) is irrational number :). And isn't it nice how the irrationals are mixed with ints in this small geometric construction of consecutive square roots?

Re: a new book on irrational numbers, hmmm Message #9 Posted by Gerson W. Barbosa on 19 Mar 2012, 8:59 p.m., in response to message #8 by David Jedelsky Yes, they are just the hypothenuses of consecutive right triangles with one leg always equal to one. Sqrt(4), Sqrt(9) and Sqrt(16) have been left unsimplified so the pattern is not spoiled. Perhaps the square roots should only have to be moved a bit to make it more clear.

Re: a new book on irrational numbers, hmmm Message #10 Posted by Jorge Rodriguez on 19 Mar 2012, 9:16 p.m., in response to message #9 by Gerson W. Barbosa I believe that the cover is illustrating how irrational numbers were discovered by the greek mathematicians in antiquity.

Re: a new book on irrational numbers, hmmm Message #11 Posted by Peter Murphy (Livermore) on 19 Mar 2012, 10:04 p.m., in response to message #9 by Gerson W. Barbosa Or use different colors to distinguish what needs to be distinguished.

Re: a new book on irrational numbers, hmmm Message #12 Posted by Alexander Oestert on 20 Mar 2012, 4:27 a.m., in response to message #1 by Don Shepherd I find much more disturbing the 'irrational' use of the Greek letters. ;-)

(NT) Yes - a no go Message #13 Posted by Mike (Stgt) on 20 Mar 2012, 7:53 a.m., in response to message #12 by Alexander Oestert .

Re: a new book on irrational numbers, hmmm Message #14 Posted by Lode on 21 Mar 2012, 4:17 p.m., in response to message #1 by Don Shepherd To be fair, sqrt(2), sqrt(3), sqrt(5) and so on are also on the cover...

Re: a new book on irrational numbers, hmmm Message #15 Posted by Don Shepherd on 21 Mar 2012, 4:56 p.m., in response to message #14 by Lode Yes, but they are irrational numbers.

Re: a new book on irrational numbers, hmmm Message #16 Posted by Bill (Smithville, NJ) on 21 Mar 2012, 6:44 p.m., in response to message #1 by Don Shepherd Hi Don, I think the cover is demonstrating a "root spiral" or "root snail". Granted, this really doesn't have to do with irrational numbers and would be more suited for the cover for a book on Spirals. Bill

Re: a new book on irrational numbers, hmmm Message #17 Posted by Don Shepherd on 21 Mar 2012, 7:36 p.m., in response to message #16 by Bill (Smithville, NJ) There is a spiral associated with shells and the golden ratio, which I believe is an irrational number, so that may make sense. I guess we'll just have to wait for the book to be published and see what the author has to say. I'm sure it will be interesting.

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