Biscuits of Number Theory

by Arthur T. Benjamin (Editor), Ezra Brown (Editor)

You are probably wondering, 'What exactly are biscuits of number theory?' In this book, the editors have selected easily digested bite-sized articles and notes which aid an understanding of number theory. This is a collection of articles chosen for being exceptionally well written and capable of being appreciated by anyone who has taken (or is taking) a first course in number theory. The list of authors is outstanding, and the chapters cover arithmetic, primes, irrationality, sums of squares and polygonal numbers, Fibonacci numbers, number theoretic functions and elliptic curves, cubes, and Fermat's last theorem. As with any anthology, you don't have to read the chapters in order, you can dive in anywhere, making this book ideal for use as a textbook supplement for a number theory course.

Genres: Mathematics

326 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2009

About the author

Arthur Benjamin holds a PhD from Johns Hopkins University and is a professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College, where he has taught since 1989. He is a noted “mathemagician,” known for being able to perform complicated computations in his head. He is the author, most recently, of The Secrets of Mental Math, and has appeared on The Today Show and The Colbert Report. Benjamin has been profiled in such publications as the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Scientific American, Discover, and Wired.