San Francisco Public Library

Thinking better, the art of the shortcut in math and life, Marcus du Sautoy

eng

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Thinking better

1237351384

Marcus du Sautoy

the art of the shortcut in math and life

"Hard work, we are often told, is the key to success. Putting in the effort, doing things the 'right way,' even if it's the long way. But according to Marcus du Sautoy, this common wisdom has it backwards. The key to success isn't hard work-it's shortcuts. We make the most progress when we find clever ways to do more with less. And there is no better way of finding shortcuts than math. Math is all about minimizing the amount of work you have to do in order to solve a problem while still arriving at the correct answer. In TK, du Sautoy offers a celebration of the life-changing magic of approaching problems in this way. He shows how the same pattern shortcuts that help us understand the evolution of the universe can also help restaurants minimize food waste, how analyzing slime mold patterns can improve public transit, how diagramming makes therapy more effective, and why calculus, arguably the greatest shortcut ever invented, helps make businesses more resilient to economic shocks. Of course, there are some things in life that don't have shortcuts like mastering a musical instrument. Fortunately, du Sautoy has a shortcut that can help you figure that out too. long the way, he speaks with he artists, scientists, doctors, and engineers whose voices help readers understand how they can make better use of shortcuts in their own lives. Du Sautoy is quick to point out that shortcuts aren't about being idle or unambitious. Quite the opposite, shortcuts are what make humans capable of great things, more powerful than even the most advanced artificial intelligence. Computers can analyze a vast trove of data and answer questions about it in a matter of seconds, but they can only operate within the rules they're given. A good shortcut allows us to rewrite the rules, to find a way of solving a problem that allows us to tackle a new, even bigger one. Isaac Newton, once said, 'If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.' Shortcuts are the ladder that helped him up"--, Provided by publisher

adult