The Fourth Dimension Simply Explained: A Collection of Essays Selected from Those Submitted in the Scientific American's Prize Competition - Brossura

 
9780486438894: The Fourth Dimension Simply Explained: A Collection of Essays Selected from Those Submitted in the Scientific American's Prize Competition

Sinossi

To remove the contents of an egg without puncturing its shell or to drink the liquor in a bottle without removing the cork is clearly unthinkable — or is it? Understanding the world of Einstein and curved space requires a logical conception of the fourth dimension.
This readable, informative volume provides an excellent introduction to that world, with 22 essays that employ a minimum of mathematics. Originally written for a contest sponsored by Scientific American, these essays are so well reasoned and lucidly written that they were judged to merit publication in book form. Their easily understood explanations cover such topics as how the fourth dimension may be studied, the relationship of non-Euclidean geometry to the fourth dimension, analogues to three-dimensional space, some four-dimensional absurdities and curiosities, possible measurements and forms in the fourth dimension, and extensive considerations of four-dimensional space's simpler properties.
Since each essay is independently conceived, all of the writers offer fresh viewpoints and original examples. Because of this, some of the most important principles relating to the fourth dimension are viewed from several different angles at once — an invaluable aid to visualizing these abstruse but fascinating ideas. New Introduction by Thomas F. Banchoff, Brown University. 82 figures.

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Contenuti

Introduction I. An Elucidation of the Fourth Dimension II. Non-Euclidean Geometry and the Fourth Dimension III. Fourth Dimension Absurdities IV. The Boundary of the Four-Dimensional Unit and Other Features of Four-Dimensional Space V. How the Fourth Dimension May Be Studied VI. Space and Hyperspace VII. An Interpretation of the Fourth Dimension VIII. Length, Breadth, Thickness, and Then What? IX. The Fourth Dimension Algebraically Considered X. Difficulties in Imagining the Fourth Dimension XI. Some Fourth Dimension Curiosities XII. Characteristics of the Fourth Dimension XIII. The Fourth Dimension, the Playground of Mathematics XIV. The True and the False in the Theory of Four Dimensions XV. The Ascending Series of Dimensions XVI. The Mind's Eye and the Fourth Dimension XVII. Other Dimensions Than Ours XVIII. The Meaning of the Term "Fourth Dimension" XIX. A Pupil in Geometry Quizzes His Teacher About the Fourth Dimension XX. Possible Measurements and Forms in a System of Four Dimensions XXI. The Fairyland of the Fourth Dimension XXII. The Properties of Four-Dimensional Space

Product Description

Readable and informative, this collection of 22 essays employs a minimum of mathematics to explain how the fourth dimension may be studied, the relationship of non-Euclidean geometry to the fourth dimension, analogues to three-dimensional space, four-dimensional absurdities and curiosities, and the simpler properties of four-dimensional space. 1910 edition. 82 figures.

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