Colossal

A true pioneer in the field of recreational mathematics, Martin Gardner has been wrangling words for decades, and his latest opus is nothing short of extraordinary. From amazing anagrams and silly spoonerisms to alphamagic squares and cryptarithms, this mind-bending compendium is chock-full of whimsical forms of wordplay that are sure to have sesquipedalian scholars and limber-minded logophiles racking their brains in delight.

No amateur or math authority can be without this ultimate compendium from America's best-loved mathematical expert. Whether discussing hexaflexagons or number theory, Klein bottles or the essence of "nothing," Martin Gardner has single-handedly created the field of "recreational mathematics." The Colossal Book of Mathematics collects together Gardner's most popular pieces from his legendary "Mathematical Games" column, which ran in Scientific American for twenty-five years. Gardner's array of absorbing puzzles and mind-twisting paradoxes opens mathematics up to the world at large, inspiring people to see past numbers and formulas and experience the application of mathematical principles to the mysterious world around them. With articles on topics ranging from simple algebra to the twisting surfaces of Mobius strips, from an endless game of Bulgarian solitaire to the unreachable dream of time travel, this volume comprises a substantial and definitive monument to Gardner's influence on mathematics, science, and culture. In its twelve sections, The Colossal Book of Math explores a wide range of areas, each startlingly illuminated by Gardner's incisive expertise. Beginning with seemingly simple topics, Gardner expertly guides us through complicated and wondrous worlds: by way of basic algebra we contemplate the mesmerizing, often hilarious, linguistic and numerical possibilities of palindromes; using simple geometry, he dissects the principles of symmetry upon which the renowned mathematical artist M. C. Escher constructs his unique, dizzying universe. Gardner, like few thinkers today, melds a rigorous scientific skepticism with a profound artistic and imaginative impulse. His stunning exploration of "The Church of the Fourth Dimension," for example, bridges the disparate worlds of religion and science by brilliantly imagining the spatial possibility of God's presence in the world as a fourth dimension, at once "everywhere and nowhere." With boundless wisdom and his trademark wit, Gardner allows the reader to further engage challenging topics like probability and game theory which have plagued clever gamblers, and famous mathematicians, for centuries. Whether debunking Pascal's wager with basic probability, making visual music with fractals, or uncoiling a "knotted doughnut" with introductory topology, Gardner continuously displays his fierce intelligence and gentle humor. His articles confront both the comfortingly mundane—"Generalized Ticktacktoe" and "Sprouts and Brussel Sprouts"—and the quakingly abstract—"Hexaflexagons," "Nothing," and "Everything." He navigates these staggeringly obscure topics with a deft intelligence and, with addendums and suggested reading lists, he informs these classic articles with new insight. Admired by scientists and mathematicians, writers and readers alike, Gardner's vast knowledge and burning curiosity reveal themselves on every page. The culmination of a lifelong devotion to the wonders of mathematics, The Colossal Book of Mathematics is the largest and most comprehensive math book ever assembled by Gardner and remains an indispensable volume for the amateur and expert alike.

Just 22 miles southeast of Tucson in the Sonoran Desert sits the town of Vail, colloquially known as "The Town between the Tracks," which refers to the two train tracks running through its tiny business center. The area is named for Walter L. Vail, who, with his partners, formed the sprawling Empire Ranch in 1876. Vail is also the home of Colossal Cave, a "dry cave" where visitors can view stunning formations and hear stories of Native Americans, bandits, and moviemakers. The cave served as the site of a Civilian Conservation Corps camp in the mid-1930s, when workers installed trails and lighting in the cave, constructed administration buildings, and built roads and picnic spots in the surrounding area. Colossal Cave is now united with the La Posta Quemada Ranch, a working cattle ranch since the 1870s, to form the 2,400-acre Colossal Cave Mountain Park.

Colossal Fame, a house that harboured thousand secrets became the subject of Charlotte’s investigation after her mother and brother went missing mysteriously and her father married for the second time. Charlotte misery turned into nightmare when Seema, her governess was absent for a month and Charlotte’s step-mom ill-treated her, forcing her to leave her house. She met Aahil, a tribal boy, with whom she falls in love while solving the mysteries of the house and the death of her mother and brother.

This fascinating book analyzes 13 control failures in human history, from Robespierre's promotion of the French Revolution, to Hoover's efforts to stop the Great Depression, to the intelligence failures of 9/11. Assessing the causes of 10 additional historical cases, the author's comparative analysis shows how each leadership failure was caused by an expansion of the range of control attempts, their scope, and/or their diversity. A leader's or other actor's attempts to broaden the range of control targets have been most important in causing great human failures. The analysis is timely during an era when war, global warming, and other vexing problems plague our society.

The features and mechanism of Colossal Magnetoresistance, or CMR, in manganese oxides as well as device physics are highlighted in this book, with a focus on tunneling MR for some artificial structures. Underlying new science, such as tunable electron-lattice interaction in a metal and roles of orbital degrees of freedom in producing an unconventio

This Colossal Project presents an absorbing epic on the building of the fourth Welland Canal, which connects Lake Ontario and Lake Erie and allows ships to bypass Niagara Falls. An immense undertaking, the canal is a vital part of North America’s infrastructure and still functions as an essential part of the St Lawrence Seaway. Emphasizing the role that vivid personalities – including engineers John Laing Weller and Alex Grant as well as contractors and labourers – played in the construction of the canal, Roberta Styran and Robert Taylor use archival sources, government documents, newspapers, maps, and original plans to describe a saga of technological, financial, geographical, and social obstacles met and overcome in an accomplishment akin to the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway. A story of Canadian skill, courage, vision, and hardship, This Colossal Project details the twenty-year excavation of the giant channel and the creation of huge concrete locks amidst war, the Great Depression, political change, and labour unrest. Building on the work presented in Styran and Taylor’s This Great National Object, which told the story of the first three Welland canals built in the nineteenth century, This Colossal Project chronicles an impressive milestone in the history of Canadian technological achievement and nation building.

Describes the physical characteristics, diet, and behaviors of lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars.