Overview

This elegant little book discusses a famous problem that helped to define the field now known as topology: What is the minimum number of colors required to print a map such that no two adjoining countries have the same color, no matter how convoluted their boundaries. Many famous mathematicians have worked on the problem, but the proof eluded fomulation until the 1950s, when it was finally cracked with a brute-force approach using a computer. The book begins by discussing the history of the problem, and then goes into the mathematics, both pleasantly enough that anyone with an elementary knowledge of geometry can follow it, and still with enough rigor that a mathematician can also read it with pleasure. The authors discuss the mathematics as well as the philosophical debate that ensued when the proof was announced: Just what is a mathematical proof, if it takes a computer to provide one - and is such a thing a proof at all?

Full Product Details

Author:   Rudolf Fritsch ,  Gerda Fritsch
Publisher:   Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Imprint:   Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Dimensions:   Width: 16.20cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 24.10cm
Weight:   0.553kg
ISBN:  

9780387984971

ISBN 10:   0387984976
Pages:   276
Publication Date:   13 August 1998
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions