Conics
Conics
Out of Print
This book engages the reader in a journey of discovery through a spirited discussion among three characters: Philosopher, Teacher and Student. Throughout the book, Philosopher pursues his dream of a unified theory of conics, where exceptions are banished. With a helpful teacher and example-hungry student, the trio soon finds that conics reveal much of their beauty when viewed over the complex numbers. It is profusely illustrated with pictures, worked-out examples, and a CD containing 36 applets. Conics is written in an easy, conversational style, and many historical tidbits and other points of interest are scattered throughout the text. Many students can self-study the book without outside help. This book is ideal for anyone having a little exposure to linear algebra and complex numbers.
- Conics is written in an easy, conversational style, and many historical tidbits and other points of interest are scattered throughout the text
- It is profusely illustrated with pictures, worked-out examples, and a CD containing 36 applets
- Many students can self-study the book without outside help and it is ideal for anyone having a little exposure to linear algebra and complex numbers
Reviews & endorsements
'This highly commendable work brings fresh perspective and astonishing new insight to its venerable subject. In Professor Kendig's skillful hands, the reader is brought to view the conic sections within the broader framework of algebraic curves in complex projective space. The resulting interplay is both instructive and pleasurable.' Basil Gordon, UCLA
Product details
August 2005Hardback
9780883853351
420 pages
261 × 188 × 34 mm
0.92kg
Unavailable - out of print January 2017
Table of Contents
- 1. Beauty and the beast
- 2. Life at infinity
- 3. How to gift-wrap a hyperbola
- 4. The cube
- 5. The other foci: a well kept secret
- 6. Are hyperbolas really ellipses?
- 7. Stakes and strings
- 8. Directrices, new and old
- 9. Conics in general position
- 10. A beautiful mathematical universe
- 11. A most excellent theorem
- 12. The big view
- 13. Curvature
- 14. Curvature of conics
- 15. Photons and conics
- 16. How conics solved a 2000-year-old question
- 17. Waves and conics
- Appendix 1 some conics formulas
- Appendix 2 Topology: a quick handshake.
