The Invisible Power of Mathematics: The Pervasive Impact of Mathematical Engineering in Everyday Life (Copernicus Books)

How does homebanking work? How are board games developed? How reliable can wind energy get? How do we discover forged paintings? Do smart girls stay single? How dangerous can a bioterrorist get? In all these questions (and many others), mathematics plays a crucial role in the search for an answer.​ This book tells the story behind twenty of these questions. This is explicitly not a mathematics book, but a book about the crucial role that mathematics plays in devising the creative solutions the world needs. The questions are divided into three categories: home, garden and kitchen mathematics; mathematics for the workplace; and mathematics for tomorrow's society. The themes illustrate not only the incredibly broad applicability of mathematics in the world around us, but also the great diversity of useful mathematical techniques. Foreword Acknowledgment Introduction Contents Part I: Mathematics in Everyday Life Chapter 1: Worry-Free Online Shopping Chapter 2: Reach Everyone, Anywhere, in Just Six Steps Chapter 3: Are the Polls Right? Chapter 4: Cochlear Implants Help the Deaf Hear Again Chapter 5: Google PageRank, or the Needle in the Haystack Chapter 6: Fun and Game Theory Part II: Mathematics in the Workplace Chapter 7: High Winds on High Mills Chapter 8: Reducing Factory Noise Chapter 9: Virtual Architecture and Engineering Chapter 10: The Art of Forgery Chapter 11: The Right Bike in the Right Place Chapter 12: Can Computers Detect Fraud? (And Do We Want Them To?) Chapter 13: Industrial Fortune Tellers Predict Profit Part III: Mathematics for Tomorrow’s Society Chapter 14: Do Smart Girls Stay Single Longer? Chapter 15: What If There’s More Data Than Storage? Chapter 16: Driving Without a Driver Chapter 17: How Vulnerable Are Our Banking Systems? Chapter 18: Can We Predict Climate Change? Chapter 19: War and Peace Chapter 20: Pandemics: From Ebola and HIV to Bioterrorism and the Coronavirus Bibliographic References Index How does homebanking work? How are board games developed? How reliable can wind energy get? How do we discover forged paintings? Do smart girls stay single? How dangerous can a bioterrorist get? In all these questions (and many others), mathematics plays a crucial role in the search for an answer.​ This book tells the story behind twenty of these questions. This is explicitly not a mathematics book , but a book about the crucial role that mathematics plays in devising the creative solutions the world needs. The questions are divided into three categories: mathematics in everyday life, mathematics for the workplace, and mathematics for tomorrow's society. The themes illustrate not only the incredibly broad applicability of mathematics in the world around us, but also the great diversity of useful mathematical techniques.