KEPLER’S CONJECTURE: HOW SOME OF THE GREATEST MINDS IN HISTORY HELPED SOLVE ONE OF THE OLDEST MATH PROBLEMS IN THE WORLD

Book ID/图书代码： 02173015B81969

English Summary/英文概要： The fascinating story of a problem that perplexed mathematicians for nearly 400 years In 1611, Johannes Kepler proposed that the best way to pack spheres as densely as possible was to pile them up in the same way that grocers stack oranges or tomatoes.

This proposition, known as Kepler′s Conjecture, seemed obvious to everyone except mathematicians, who seldom take anyone′s word for anything. In the tradition of Fermat′s Enigma, George Szpiro shows how the problem engaged and stymied many men of genius over the centuries––Sir Walter Raleigh, astronomer Tycho Brahe, Sir Isaac Newton, mathematicians C. F.

Gauss and David Hilbert, and R. Buckminster Fuller, to name a few––until Thomas Hales of the University of Michigan submitted what seems to be a definitive proof in 1998.

George G. Szpiro (Jerusalem, Israel) is a mathematician turned journalist. He is currently the Israel correspondent for the Swiss daily Neue Zurcher Zeitung.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 这是一个有关困扰了数学家们将近400年的难题的故事。1611年，开普勒指出，尽可能密集地堆放球体的最佳方法就是像杂货店里堆放橘子或西红柿那样。

这一被称为“开普勒猜想”的命题对大多数人来说可谓显而易见，但几乎从不将任何人的话当真的数学家们可不这么想。和费马定理一样，作者讲述了这个问题是如何在几个世纪里吸引并困扰着众多天才——沃尔特•罗利爵士、天文学家第谷•布拉赫、艾萨克•牛顿爵士及众多数学家……

他们中还包括高斯、希尔伯特和理查德•巴克敏斯特•富勒。直到1998年，密歇根大学的托马斯•黑尔斯才提交了一个有关“开普勒猜想”的确定证明。（LYR）

Awards/获奖情况：“本书对于解决这个问题的历史过程和问题本身的诱惑进行了通俗而有趣的叙述……”——《自然》，2003年9月11日

“……本书完美平衡了数学解释和历史叙述……”《M2》最佳书籍，2003年8月18日

“……非常出色的流行科普读物……”《数学情报员》Vol 26: No. 1

“……文笔优美……以浅显易懂的语言解释并呈现了这个问题。”《德国数学文摘》2007年3月

"...gives an entertaining and readable account of the history of the problem and the attempts to solve it..."-- Nature, 11 September 2003

"...the perfect balance of tone between mathematical explanation and historical exposition..." -- M2 Best Books, 18 August 2003

"...well-crafted piece of popular science writing..." (Mathematical Intelligencer, Vol 26: No. 1)

“…a nicely written approach…explained and presented in a conveniently readable manner.” (Zentralblatt MATH, March 2007)

About the Author/作者介绍： GEORGE G. SZPIRO博士，数学家，后转行成为记者。目前是《新苏黎世报》的以色列通讯员。

GEORGE G. SZPIRO, Ph.D., is a mathematician turned journalist. He is currently the Israel correspondent for the Swiss daily Neue Zurcher Zeitung.

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