Product Description

Here the author of How to Solve It explains how to become a "good guesser." Marked by G. Polya's simple, energetic prose and use of clever examples from a wide range of human activities, this two-volume work explores techniques of guessing, inductive reasoning, and reasoning by analogy, and the role they play in the most rigorous of deductive disciplines.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84604 in Books
• Published on: 1990-08-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 296 pages

Review
Professor Polya . . . is interested in problem solving and the psychological aspects of mathematical discovery. . . . [These books] should provide many entertaining hours for anyone who cares to pick up the challenge. -- Review

Review
Polya . . . does a masterful job of showing just how plausible reasoning is used in mathematics. . . . The material in both volumes is fresh and highly original; the presentation is stimulating, informal, and occasionally humorous; examples from science, legal reasoning, and daily life make the arguments clear even to a nonspecialist. Polya's book is a rare event. . . .
(Morris Kline Scientific American )

Professor Polya's beautifully written hook has become a classic. . . .
(-A. 0. L. Atkin The Mathematical Gazette )

Professor Polya . . . is interested in problem solving and the psychological aspects of mathematical discovery. . . . [These books] should provide many entertaining hours for anyone who cares to pick up the challenge.
(Carl Hammer Journal of the Franklin Institute )

Professor Polya presents a forceful argument for the teaching of intelligent guessing as well as proving. . . . There are also very readable and enjoyable discussions of such concepts as the isoperimetric problem and 'chance, the ever-present rival of conjecture.'
(Bruce E. Meserve The Mathematics Teacher )

About the Author
G. Polya (1887-1985) was Professor of Mathematics at Stanford University.

Customer Reviews

At the very root of mathematical discovery
One of the most beautiful books on scientific discovery. Read this book and then keep it at bedside for sheer amusement. Analogies are frequently the key to a discovery, but it is rare that this essential step receives credit. Here there is a collection of them: some of the most beautiful. Perhaps the most famous is Bernoulli's solution of the brachistochrone problem, based on an analogy with the path of light in the atmosphere. But there are many others, with comments and analysis by Polya, who spent a life thinking at these things. It's a pity he didn't include Riemann's "proof" of the theorem of conformal representation, based on an analogy with the physics of electrical currents on a surface. The reader can find it beautifully described in Richard Courant's "Dirichlet Principle".

Be prepared to be amazed every few pages!
This book shows you how simple concepts when applied properly can lead to ingenious solutions. For example, the author's proof of the Pythagorean Theorem will leave you shocked by its amazing elegance. And, there are several of these throughout the book.
Read this book. It's money more than well spent.

Good writing - good reading
The book delves deeply into logic and mathematical reasoning with quite a bit of intermediate math. While most of the chapters and concepts are mathematical Polya has skillfully made the reading easy and the concepts more universal. The book is really about thinking and looking at ideas with a clear light. Above all it's just good reading. Don't let the math scare you - there's lots of good stuff here.