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The Best of All Possible Worlds
Ivar Ekeland
€ 18.99
€ 16.54
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Description for The Best of All Possible Worlds
Paperback. Tracing the impact of optimization and the ways in which it has influenced the study of mathematics, biology, economics, and even politics, this title reveals how the idea has driven some of our greatest intellectual breakthroughs. Num Pages: 208 pages, 17 halftones, 10 line drawings. BIC Classification: PBU. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational. Dimension: 229 x 153 x 15. Weight in Grams: 358.
Optimists believe this is the best of all possible worlds. And pessimists fear that might really be the case. But what is the best of all possible worlds? How do we define it? This question has preoccupied philosophers and theologians for ages, but there was a time, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when scientists and mathematicians felt they could provide the answer. This book is their story. Ivar Ekeland here takes the reader on a journey through scientific attempts to envision the best of all possible worlds. He begins with the French physicist Maupertuis, whose least action principle, Ekeland ... Read more
Optimists believe this is the best of all possible worlds. And pessimists fear that might really be the case. But what is the best of all possible worlds? How do we define it? This question has preoccupied philosophers and theologians for ages, but there was a time, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when scientists and mathematicians felt they could provide the answer. This book is their story. Ivar Ekeland here takes the reader on a journey through scientific attempts to envision the best of all possible worlds. He begins with the French physicist Maupertuis, whose least action principle, Ekeland ... Read more
Product Details
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2007
Publisher
The University of Chicago Press United States
Number of pages
208
Condition
New
Number of Pages
214
Place of Publication
, United States
ISBN
9780226199955
SKU
V9780226199955
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 7 to 11 working days
Ref
99-50
About Ivar Ekeland
Ivar Ekeland is professor of mathematics and economics at the University of British Columbia and director of the Pacific Institute for Mathematical Sciences. He is the author of several books, including Mathematics and the Unexpected and The Broken Dice, both published by the University of Chicago Press.
Reviews for The Best of All Possible Worlds
"The deity of Leibniz and Maupertuis can only make action stationary; to us remains the challenge to make the world as good as possible.... We can neither evade such problems nor address them without science. Ekeland's admirable account gives us the tools to consider these important questions in greater depth." - Peter Pesic, Times Literary Supplement "A vivid picture of ... Read more