Free shipping on all orders over $79* Limited Time Only
Track My Order
Help Centre
Likes
My Wish ListsLogin / Join
Booktopia
Australia's local bookstore
Get Free Shipping on orders over $79
Indiscrete Thoughts : Modern Birkhauser Classics - Gian-Carlo Rota

Indiscrete Thoughts

By: Gian-Carlo Rota, Fabrizio Palombi (Editor)

Paperback | 25 January 2008

At a Glance

Paperback

$199.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $49.94 with

 or 

Ships in 5 to 7 business days

Indiscrete Thoughts gives a glimpse into a world that has seldom been described that of science and technology as seen through the eyes of a mathematician. The era covered by this book, 1950 to 1990, was surely one of the golden ages of science as well as the American university.

Cherished myths are debunked along the way as Gian-Carlo Rota takes pleasure in portraying, warts and all, some of the great scientific personalities of the period -Stanislav Ulam (who, together with Edward Teller, signed the patent application for the hydrogen bomb), Solomon Lefschetz (Chairman in the 50s of the Princeton mathematics department), William Feller (one of the founders of modern probability theory), Jack Schwartz (one of the founders of computer science), and many others.

Rota is not afraid of controversy. Some readers may even consider these essays indiscreet. After the publication of the essay "The Pernicious Influence of Mathematics upon Philosophy" (reprinted six times in five languages) the author was blacklisted in analytical philosophy circles. Indiscrete Thoughts should become an instant classic and the subject of debate for decades to come.

Industry Reviews

From the reviews:

"Read Indiscrete Thoughts for its account of the way we were and what we have become; for its sensible advice and its exuberant rhetoric."

--The Mathematical Intelligencer

"Learned, thought-provoking, politically incorrect, delighting in paradox, and likely to offend-but everywhere readable and entertaining."

--The American Mathematical Monthly

"It is about mathematicians, the way they think, and the world in which the live. It is 260 pages of Rota calling it like he sees it... Readers are bound to find his observations amusing if not insightful. Gian-Carlo Rota has written the sort of book that few mathematicians could write. What will appeal immediately to anyone with an interest in research mathematics are the stories he tells about the practice of modern mathematics."

--MAA Reviews

"This is a paperback reprint, in the Modern Birkhaeuser Classics series, of a book first published in 1997. It has aged very well, and richly deserves its inclusion in this series. ... an excellent book, fun to read, and interesting to think about." (Fernando Q. Gouvea, MathDL, January, 2008)

You Can Find This Book In

Non-FictionPhilosophyMathematicsHistory of MathematicsApplied MathematicsOptimisationGame TheoryMathematical FoundationMathematical LogicScienceScience in GeneralHistory of Science

More in History of Science

A Short History of Nearly Everything 2.0 - Bill Bryson

A Short History of Nearly Everything 2.0

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$29.75

20%
OFF
The Origin of Species : 150th Anniversary Edition - Charles Darwin

The Origin of Species

150th Anniversary Edition

Paperback

RRP $14.99

$14.75

Sapiens A Graphic History, Volume 2 : The Pillars of Civilization - Yuval Noah Harari

Sapiens A Graphic History, Volume 2

The Pillars of Civilization

Hardcover

RRP $39.99

$31.75

21%
OFF
Ernest Rutherford and the Birth of Modern Physics - Matthew Wright

Ernest Rutherford and the Birth of Modern Physics

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$29.75

20%
OFF
The Future of Seeing : How Imaging Is Changing Our World - Daniel K. Sodickson

The Future of Seeing

How Imaging Is Changing Our World

Hardcover

RRP $57.95

$44.75

23%
OFF
Sapiens A Graphic History, Volume 3 : The Masters of History - Yuval Noah Harari

Sapiens A Graphic History, Volume 3

The Masters of History

Hardcover

RRP $45.00

$35.75

21%
OFF
Material World : A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future - Ed Conway

Material World

A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF
Longitude - Dava Sobel

Longitude

Paperback

RRP $22.99

$20.75

10%
OFF
The Biggest Ideas in the Universe 2 : Quanta and Fields - Sean Carroll

The Biggest Ideas in the Universe 2

Quanta and Fields

Paperback

RRP $24.99

$21.75

13%
OFF
Engines : The Inner Workings of Machines That Move the World - Theodore Gray

Engines

The Inner Workings of Machines That Move the World

Hardcover

RRP $55.00

$42.75

22%
OFF
Human Nature : Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet - Kate Marvel

Human Nature

Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$29.75

20%
OFF
Indescribable : 100 Devotions For Kids About God And Science - Louie Giglio

Indescribable

100 Devotions For Kids About God And Science

Hardcover

RRP $29.99

$24.99

17%
OFF
Royal Observatory Greenwich : A History in Objects - Louise Devoy

Royal Observatory Greenwich

A History in Objects

Hardcover

RRP $97.99

$73.75

25%
OFF
Simply Genetics : Facts Made Fast - DK

Simply Genetics

Facts Made Fast

Hardcover

RRP $27.99

$23.75

15%
OFF

This product is categorised by