Читать книгу The Ultimate Mathematical Challenge: Over 365 puzzles to test your wits and excite your mind - Литагент HarperCollins USD, F. M. L. Thompson - Страница 5

Foreword

Marcus du Sautoy

There are two things that made me fall in love with mathematics. The first was my teacher at my comprehensive school revealing that there was more to mathematics than long division. Seeing the big stories of mathematics about prime numbers, four-dimensional geometry, symmetry and more made me realise the beauty and creativity that bubbles throughout the subject.

The second was when my teacher introduced me to the puzzles of Martin Gardner in Scientific American. It was then that I got hooked on the amazing buzz you get when you’ve struggled to crack a challenging puzzle and then suddenly you see a clever way to unlock the enigma. Be warned: cracking puzzles releases a very addictive drug.

In this book you can immerse yourself in the joys of the second reason I fell in love with mathematics. Jam-packed with problems that have formed part of the UKMT competitions over the years, these challenges range from those aimed at students taking their first steps onto the mathematical terrain to problems that are for those scaling some of the peaks of the subject.

Although the questions formed part of various competitions, I think it is important to remember that mathematics is not at its heart a competitive sport. As mathematicians we all work together to advance our understanding of the universe of numbers and geometry. Every theorem that we prove relies on all the theorems and proofs that previous generations have laid down right back to the Ancient Greeks. Of all the sciences, mathematics is perhaps unique in the way we truly stand on the shoulders of giants to see further and deeper into our subject.

So the only competitive aspect of the problems for you as a reader is the fun of competing against yourself. Enjoy the problems you can’t solve so easily. They are ultimately the ones that will give you the biggest buzz when you crack them. What gets me up in the morning to go to my desk to do mathematics is all the problems I can’t solve. And when you’ve mastered all the challenges of this book, just remember that mathematics has a whole host of big stories that are still waiting for someone to write the final chapter and reveal the mysteries that still obsess us as mathematicians.

Marcus du Sautoy is Professor of Mathematics and Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford.