☰

Biographies & Memoirs

Professionals & Academics

Genius At Play: The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway

Not Available / Digital Item

Please be aware orders placed now may not arrive in time for Christmas, please check delivery times.

Genius At Play: The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway

Conway is a creative genius." --Martin Gardner

An unabashed original, John Horton Conway is Archimedes, Mick Jagger, Salvador Dali, and Richard Feynman all rolled into one--a singular mathematician, with a rock star's charisma, a sly sense of humor, a polymath's promiscuous curiosity, and a burning desire to explain everything about the world to everyone in it.

Born in Liverpool in 1937, Conway found fame as a barefoot Cambridge professor. He discovered the Conway groups in mathematical symmetry, and invented the aptly named surreal numbers, as well as the cult classic Game of Life--more than a cool fad, Life demonstrates how simplicity generates complexity and the game provides an analogy for all mathematics and the entire universe. Moving to Princeton in 1987, as a mathemagician he deployed cards, ropes, dice, coat hangers, and even the odd Slinky as props to extend his winning imagination and share his mathy obsessions with signature contagion. He is a jet-setting ambassador-at-large for the beauties of all things mathematical.

Genius At Play is an intimate investigation into the mind of an endearing genius, laying bare Conway's personal and professional idiosyncrasies. The intimacy comes courtesy of the man himself. He generously granted Roberts full access, though not without the occasional grudge and grumble: "Oh hell," he'd say. "You're not going to put that in the book. Are you?!?

Country	USA
Author	Siobhan Roberts
Binding	Kindle Edition
Edition	1
EISBN	9781620405949
Format	Kindle eBook
Label	Bloomsbury USA
Manufacturer	Bloomsbury USA
NumberOfPages	481
PublicationDate	2015-07-14
Publisher	Bloomsbury USA
ReleaseDate	2015-07-14
Studio	Bloomsbury USA

You might also like...

Idea Makers: Personal Perspectives on the Lives & Ideas of Some Notable People

Idea Makers: Personal Perspectives on the Lives & Ideas of Some Notable People

My Search for Ramanujan: How I Learned to Count

My Search for Ramanujan: How I Learned to Count

A Beautiful Question: Finding Nature's Deep Design

A Beautiful Question: Finding Nature's Deep Design

Void: The Strange Physics of Nothing (Foundational Questions in Science)

Void: The Strange Physics of Nothing (Foundational Questions in Science)

Calculating the Cosmos: How Mathematics Unveils the Universe

Calculating the Cosmos: How Mathematics Unveils the Universe

The Magic of Math: Solving for x and Figuring Out Why

The Magic of Math: Solving for x and Figuring Out Why

The Seven Pillars of Statistical Wisdom

The Seven Pillars of Statistical Wisdom