Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 The 1953 Great Flood
- 2 The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
- 3 The 2007–2008 Financial Crisis
- 4 Earthquakes and Tsunamis
- 5 The L’Aquila Trial and the Public Communication of Risk
- 6 The Coronavirus Pandemic
- 7 Mathematical Wonderland
- 8 Stochastic Modeling
- 9 The Modeling of Extreme Events
- 10 On Climate Change and Related Risk
- 11 Further Examples from the World of Extremes
- 12 Networks
- 13 The Black Tulip and February 3, 1637
- A Note About the References
- References
- Index
7 - Mathematical Wonderland
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 April 2024
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 The 1953 Great Flood
- 2 The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
- 3 The 2007–2008 Financial Crisis
- 4 Earthquakes and Tsunamis
- 5 The L’Aquila Trial and the Public Communication of Risk
- 6 The Coronavirus Pandemic
- 7 Mathematical Wonderland
- 8 Stochastic Modeling
- 9 The Modeling of Extreme Events
- 10 On Climate Change and Related Risk
- 11 Further Examples from the World of Extremes
- 12 Networks
- 13 The Black Tulip and February 3, 1637
- A Note About the References
- References
- Index
Summary
Time for a break! Chapter 7 takes you for a guided walk through a tiny part of mathematical wonderland. We will encounter several mathematical personalities. An important one is Andrew Wiles, who solved Fermat’s Last Theorem. The story about how he finally obtained a proof is a must-read. We learn about the Fields Medal, the equivalent of a (non-existing) Nobel Prize in mathematics. We also tell you about the four-yearly International Congresses of Mathematicians and their influence on the field. There will be a first step on the ladder towards a theory of randomness; key names here are Jacob Bernoulli and Andrei Nikolajewitsch Kolmogorov. Randomness also comes to us through the famous discussion between Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein on “God throwing dice”. Of course, we include Leonhard Euler and his most beautiful formula of mathematics.
Keywords
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- Information
- Risk RevealedCautionary Tales, Understanding and Communication, pp. 82 - 93Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024