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世界级数学家、《纽约时报》专栏作者史蒂夫·斯托加茨的《x的奇幻之旅》,引人踏上一段领略最伟大的数学思想的赏心悦目之旅.沿途可以看到数学如何与文学、哲学、法律、医学、艺术、商业彼此交融,甚至流行文化也能以意想不到的方式和数学共舞.该书第17章讲述了一个关于如何尽快走出雪地到草地的故事,涉及到建模的数学思想,指出了用微分求导求函数最值的思想方法,同时也谈到了最优路径的解答服从光的折射定律.
The world-class mathematician and New York Times columnist Steve Sturgatz’s “X’s Fantasy Journey” leads people to a pleasing tour of the greatest mathematics. See how mathematics can be seen along the way. Blending with literature, philosophy, law, medicine, art, and business, even popular culture can dance with mathematics in an unexpected way. Chapter 17 of the book tells a story about how to get out of the snow and meadow as soon as possible. To the mathematical idea of modeling, it points out the way to use the differential to find the function’s maximum value. At the same time, it also talks about the solution of the optimal path obeys the law of light refraction.