what is a good book on mathematics, history, status in the world today, for a math major beginning college?

Answer 1

Try "Letters to a Young Mathematician" by Ian Stewart. Also, "A Mathematician's Apology" by G.H. Hardy, "Infinite Ascent" by David Berlinski, "What is Mathematics?" by Courant.

Answer 2

Unfortunately, the current state of mathematics is so ecclectic that creating a course or a book to serve the purpose that you desire is probably too ambitious a project for anyone to succeed at. Still, if you want a close approximation to this idea, especially with some information about historical development and relation to "the world" through theoretical physics, Roger Penrose recently published a book called "The Road to Reality", a complete guide to the laws of the universe. This book is aimed at the layman, and attempts to describe our current knowledge of the physical world by first giving an overview of the mathematical underpinnings of the current physical theories. This includes illustrated descriptions of quite a bit of sophisticated mathematics. Most reviewers say that this book is hard going, especially for someone with a high-school level mathematics background, but most also say it is well worth the brainpower and effort to get what you can out of it. I don't think any treatment of the current state of mathematics could be easy on the reader, and Roger Penrose is a well-respected scientist and expositor. I have only read the first few chapters so far, but I have found them intriguing.

Answer 3

i would look on Textbook411.com , they conpare the prices at all over 20 bookstores to find the lowest price, do some keyword searches and you will find what you are looking for! good lcuk!!!