Rights sold
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Contact us to read a sample translation of Pluses and Minuses: m.nagtegaal [at] debezigebij.nl
About the book
Stefan Buijsman is Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory, but with much better social skills, a man of immeasurable capacities and way above average intelligence. – Svenska Dagbladet
Thousands of years ago the inhabitants of Mesopotamia became the first to use numbers. Since then, mathematics has been unstoppable. It’s behind almost everything, from search engines to cruise control, from coffee-makers to timetables. But now that we hardly ever need to do arithmetic any longer, how relevant is mathematics to everyday life? Pluses and Minuses demonstrates which role mathematics plays in the human endeavour. It begins with the mathematical skills we all possess from birth and arrives at the many applications of mathematics today. It turns out that if we don’t understand the ideas behind those applications we find ourselves side-lined in situations where they don’t work as we want them to. Buijsman answers questions such as: What is life like without numbers? Does mathematics add anything? How important are integrals? Is the usefulness of mathematics mere chance? How can we get a grip on uncertainty? Can mathematics help us to treat cancer more effectively? Stefan Buijsman makes connections between philosophy, psychology and history, while explaining the wonderful world of mathematics for absolutely everyone.