$Big Math : The Hidden Codes That Run Our World - Alex Townsend$

Big Math

Name: Big Math
Brand: John Murray
Price: 49.75 AUD
Availability: PreOrder

The Hidden Codes That Run Our World

By: Alex Townsend, Steven Strogatz

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Hardcover | 2 March 2027 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Format
Hardcover

Dimensions(cm)
24.0 x 15.6

Hardcover

RRP $59.99

$49.75

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Available: 2nd March 2027

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It's in every photo you post to Instagram, every Google search you make and every prompt you give to ChatGPT . . .

Big Math - the branch of modern mathematics behind our digital revolution - operates under the hood of these everyday miracles, driving the biggest shifts in how we shop, communicate, live, and think.

Yet the arithmetic itself is not especially new or mysterious: rather, it is made up of humble concepts and processes such as matrices and vectors, networks and Markov Chains, optimization and linear algebra. These basic concepts are the cornerstone of computer science and quantum computing, and they're crucial for aspiring tech workers and ordinary citizens alike to understand if we're to comprehend the changes sweeping the world.

The story of how this little math grew so large, and how it became central to our modern lives, is also one of the great intellectual adventures of all time, with precursors in a bamboo puzzle book in an ancient Chinese tomb and inheritance law in ninth-century Baghdad.

But after a long history of working harmoniously with humans, today this reliable branch of mathematics has slipped the leash. As Big Math has expanded to contend with ever larger problems and ever vaster sets of data, it has also begun to operate in ways that we don't comprehend.

Celebrated mathematicians Steven Strogatz and Alex Townsend ask: what happens when Big Math outgrows us - when it becomes something we no longer understand, only something we witness? And what if it no longer needs us at all?

Industry Reviews

'Your chatbot doesn't want you to read this book - you might get a better understanding of how AI works and you could become the one in control. Through its vivid stories, Big Math traces how we got here and what's at stake: human ownership of the future.' - Alan Alda

'We're entering the Big Math era, and there is no going back. I can't think of a better guide than this book.' - Sean Carroll

'Reveals how the miraculous technologies of our modern world are built on profound and surprisingly beautiful mathematics. Accessible and thoroughly enjoyable...a colossal delight!' - Melanie Mitchell

'A friendly and authoritative guide to the way math has scaled up, from the frontiers of quantum computing to the piles of boxes in Amazon's warehouses.' - Jordan Ellenberg

'Afascinating and engaging tour of the invisible structures on which modern life is built.' - Daniel Gilbert

'Absolutely overflowing with ideas and intuition...the perfect book for our times.' - Steven Levitt

'Written with warmth and generosity, Big Math is an invaluable gift for anyone who feels locked out of this present moment.' - Janna Levin

'Essential reading for our increasingly confused times... Cuts through the flood of mystification around AI and recenters the human in the equation.' - James Gleick

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