Genius at Play: The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway

Genius at Play: The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway - Paperback

$43.13
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Genius at Play: The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway
  • Genius at Play: The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway
Genius at Play: The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway - Paperback

Genius at Play: The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway - Paperback

by Siobhan Roberts
$43.13
$43.13

Book Overview

A multifaceted biography of a brilliant mathematician and iconoclast

A mathematician unlike any other, John Horton Conway (1937-2020) possessed a rock star's charisma, a polymath's promiscuous curiosity, and a sly sense of humor. Conway found fame as a barefoot professor at Cambridge, where he discovered the Conway groups in mathematical symmetry and the aptly named surreal numbers. He also invented the cult classic Game of Life, a cellular automaton that demonstrates how simplicity generates complexity--and provides an analogy for mathematics and the entire universe. Moving to Princeton in 1987, Conway used ropes, dice, pennies, coat hangers, and the occasional Slinky to illustrate his winning imagination and share his nerdish delights. Genius at Play tells the story of this ambassador-at-large for the beauties and joys of mathematics, lays bare Conway's personal and professional idiosyncrasies, and offers an intimate look into the mind of one of the twentieth century's most endearing and original intellectuals.
ISBN9780691266404
Author Siobhan Roberts
PublisherPrinceton University Press
GenreBiography, Education, and History
FormatPaperback
PublishedOctober 2024
LanguageENG- English
Pages480
Weight1.0 lb
Target AudienceAdults
Print SizeStandard Print

Related Subjects

Biography & Autobiography History Mathematics Nonfiction Science

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More by Siobhan Roberts

Genius at Play: The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway

Genius at Play: The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway - Paperback

Genius at Play: The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway - Paperback

By Siobhan Roberts

About Siobhan Roberts

Siobhan Roberts is an award-winning science journalist and regular contributor to the New York Times. She is the author of Genius at Play and Wind Wizard (both Princeton).

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