Little Mathematics Library – Method of Successive Approximations

Posted on January 3, 2012 by damitr

In the Little Mathematics Library we now come to Method of Successive Approximations by N. Ya. Vilenkin. As the title suggests the book has to do with approximation methods, but what kind of approximations and for what kind of use one may ask?

The preface of the book reads:

The main purpose of this book is to present various methods of approximate solution of equations. Their practical value is beyond doubt, but still little attention is paid to them either at school or a college and so someone who has passed a college level higher mathematics course usually has difficulty in solving a transcendental equation of the simplest type. Not only engineers need to solve equations, but also technicians, production technologists and people in other professions as well. It is also good for high-school students to become acquainted with the methods of approximate solution of equations. Since most approximate solution methods involve the idea of the derivative we were forced to introduce this concept. We did this intuitively, making use of a geometric interpretation. Hence, a knowledge of secondary school mathematics will be sufficient for anyone wanting to read this book.

The book was translated from the Russian by Mark Samokhvalov and was first published by Mir in 1979. All credits to the original uploader.

The Internet Archive Link

and here

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Little Mathematics Library – Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem

Posted on January 2, 2012 by damitr

After the last two posts by V. A. Uspenskii (check out his site here) which dealt with Post’s Machine, and Pascal’s Triangle, we now come to another book by him in the Little Mathematics Library series titled Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem.

The back cover of the book reads:

 Few discoveries have had as much impact on our perception of human thought as Gödel’s proof in 1930 that any logical system such as usual rules of arithmetic, must be inevitably incomplete, i.e., must contain statements which are true but can never be proved. Professor Uspensky’s makes both a precise statement and also a proof of Gödel’s startling theorem understandable to someone without any advanced mathematical training, such as college students or even ambitious high school student. Also, Uspensky introduces a new method of proving the theorem, based on the theory of algorithms which is taking on increasing importance in modern mathematics because of its connection with computers. This book is recommended for students of mathematics, computer science, and philosophy and for scientific layman interested in logical problems of deductive thought.

The book was translated from the Russian by Neal Koblitz and was first published by Mir in 1987.

Thanks to hawa-ka-jhonka who made this book accessible.

The Internet Archive Link

and here

For magnet / torrent links go here.

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Little Mathematics Library – Pascals Triangle

Posted on January 2, 2012 by damitr

In continuing from the last post on Post’s Machine by V. A. Uspenskii (sometimes Uspensky) we come to another volume by him titled Pascals’s Triangle.

The book opens with an interesting note

The reader who is not familiar with Pascal’s triangle should be warned that it is not a geometric triangle with three angles and three sides. What we call Pascal’s triangle is an important numerical table, with the help of which a number of computation problems may be solved. We shall examine some of these problems and shall incidentally touch upon the question of what “solving a problem” can mean in general.

This exposition requires no preliminary knowledge beyond the limits
of the eighth-grade curriculum, except for the definition of and notation for the zeroth power of a number. That is, one must know that any non-zero number, raised to the zeroth power, is considered (by definition!) to be equal to unity: a0 = 1 for a ≠ 0.

The book was published by Mir in the Little Mathematics Library in 1976. But earlier in the West many books from this series were translated and published by University of Chicago Press under the series Popular Lectures in Mathematics. This particular title was translated from the Russian by David J, Soonke and Timothy McLarnan and was published in 1974.

You can get the book here (PLM version here.)

and here

All credits to the original uploader.

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Little Mathematics Library – Post’s Machine

Posted on December 28, 2011 by damitr

We start our posts in the Little Mathematics Library series with a book by V. A. Uspensky titled Post’s Machine.

This booklet is intended first of all for school children. The first two chapters are comprehensible even for junior schoolchildren. The book deals with a certain “toy” (“abstract” in scientific terms) computing machine – the so called Post machine – on which calculations involve many important features inherent in the computations on real electronic computers. By means of the simplest examples the students are taught the fundamentals of programming for the Post machine, and the machine, though extremely simple, is found to possess quite high potentialities.The reader is not expected to have any knowledge of mathematics beyond the primary school curriculum.

The book was translated from the Russian by R. Alavina and was first published by Mir in 1983.

All credits to the original uploader.

The Internet Archive Link

and here

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Let’s Play Geometry

Posted on December 28, 2011 by damitr

[The aim of the book] is to acquaint children in exciting and stimulating way with some of principle concepts of geometry, to teach them how to find bearings in simple geometrical situations and to discern geometrical patterns in the world around them.

In this post we will be looking at a book from which I have many fond memories. This book is titled Lets Play Geometry by L. N. Shevrin and V. G. Zhitomirsky. The book is written in the style of A Book About Stars and Planets which we have seen already.

The back cover of the book says:

Through fascinating stories and rhymes, young readers are introduced to some elementary geometry. The book is made up of adventures which bring in the theory, and some exercises to develop the topics. It is written in a simple and attractive language, and is particularly well-suited to 5-8-year olds

The book is intended for children and to be read to them by an adult. The activities “hands-on” and “minds-on” that are suggested in the book are amazing. I had a copies of this book in English and Marathi, and also know that there is a Hindi translation. I do not know if there are other translations in Indian languages.

The book was translated from the Russian by Alexander Repyev and was first published by Mir in 1985. Thanks for Gordon to bring this copy to my notice and all credits to gnv64 for the book.

You can get the book here and here.

Update: Added Internet Archive Link | 04 December 2015

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Science for Everyone – Taking Stock

Posted on December 23, 2011 by damitr

The last post In the World of Binary Stars, completed the titles of Science for Everyone series that were accessible. When the original post was made with the listings we had listed 37 titles, out of which many are posted already. In this post I will make a stock of what has been accomplished and what remains to be done. Any inputs of how and where to get to the remaining books in this series would be greatly appreciated. This effort would not have been possible without all the people who have given their help, advise and support, mental, physical or otherwise. All credits to the respective, original uploaders! Thanks to all!!

The listing below is done year wise. The books that are with us are presented with links and the books that are not and are in red text and we need to get them.

Only 4 to go!

Update: Science for Everyone all files in one place here.

Password: http://www.mirtitles.org

Thanks to Desperaomar for these links.

Update Jan 2020: We have added four more titles. Only one Earth, Sweet Earth remains now.

 

Aptitude Test Problems in Physics S. S. Krotov [Ed.] 1990

Differential Equations in Applications V. V. Amel’kinn 1990

Discussions on Refraction of Light L. V. Tarasov, A. N. Tarasova 1984

Earth, Sweet Earth Ekaterina Radkevich 1990

Electrons and Crystals Th. Wolkenstein 1985

Elementary Kinematics of Elementary Particles G. I. Kopylov 1983

Encounters with Physicists and Physics I.K. Kikoin. 1989

Ethology What animals do and Why Igor Akimushkin 1988 (Link added 08-10-2013)

Flying Trains G. Zelkin 1986

How We See What We See V. Demidov 1986

In The World of Binary Stars V. N. Lipunov 1989

Learning About Chemistry G. B. Shul’pin. 1989 (Link added 20-10-2013)

Luminescence in Public Health N. N Barashkov 1988

Me or Not Me R. V. Petrov 1987

Modern Geology N.A. Yasamanov 1990

Mystery of Minerology B.I. Srebrodolsky 1989

Origin and Chemical Evolution of the Earth G.V. Voitkevich 1988

(Got the hard copy to be scanned)

Origin and Development of Life on Earth G.V. Voitkevich 1988

Our Planet – The Earth A.V. Byalko. 1987

Physics and Geometry of Disorder: Percolation Theory A. L. Efros 1986

Physics In Your Kitchen Lab I. K. Kikoin (Ed.) 1985

Problems in Plane Geometry I. F. Sharygin 1986

Problems in Solid Geometry I. F. Sharygin 1986

Puppets Without Strings V.I. Varshavsky, D.A. Pospelov 1988

(Got the hard copy to be scanned)

Physical Paradoxes and Sophisms V. N. Lange 1987

Satellite and Typhoon : Eye to Eye S.N. Baibakov and A.I. Martynov 1987

Semiconductors Made Simple A. M. Polyakov 1985

Silhouettes of Chemistry D. N. Trifonov, L. G. Vlasov 1987

Storming The Fortress of Fusion G. S. Voronov 1988

Traces of Bygone Biospheres A. V. Lapo 1987

Temperature Ya. A. Smorodisnky 1984

The Grand Biological Clock V.M. Dilman 1989

The Greatest Speed S.R. Filonovich 1986

The Nature of Magnetism M.I. Kaganov, V.M. Tsukernik 1985

This Fascinating Astronomy V. N. Komarov 1985

The Progeny of Volcanoes P.N. Erofeev 1986

Yes, No or Maybe Ya. I Khurgin 1985

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Science for Everyone – In The World of Binary Stars

Posted on December 23, 2011 by damitr

In the Science for Everyone series we now go to a journey In The World of Binary Stars by V. M. Lipunov. This book discusses many things about the binary stars and the exotic things that they can lead to. White dwarfs, neutron stars, black holes, X-ray pulsars you name it and this book has it. In all it gives you a very substantial overview of the field of binary stars. A must read for all the astro-enthusiasts: Clear Skies!

The back cover of the book says following:

Binary stars contain some of the most exotic objects in the sky. This is an exciting account about binary stars and the way black holes, white dwarfs, and neutron stars can evolve in them. It is, moreover, a short history of the ideas and discoveries that led to our current understanding of this fascinating heavenly object the binary.

This book was translated from the Russian by Alexander A. Kandaurov and was first published by Mir in 1989. Thanks to hawa-ka-jhonka for making this book accessible.

Update: Jan 2020

The Internet Archive Link

and here

 

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Science for Everyone – Our Planet – The Earth

Posted on December 23, 2011 by damitr

The book in this post is titled Our Planet – The Earth by A. V. Byalko. The book is wonderfully written and well illustrated. This is a book which mingles with a lot of disciplines and presents us with a better understanding of all the phenomena concerning Our Planet – The Earth: right from the astronomical to terrestrial. The mere breadth of the subject that this book covers is amazing, our path in space, other celestial bodies, the sun its working and interiors, Earth’s  atmosphere its oceans and finally the climate on the Earth.

The back cover of the book says:

The physical principles underlying the global phenomena that occur on the Earth and other planets in the solar system are presented in away accessible to older pupils at school.The similarities between the phenomenon the various planets are due to the nature of their common star, the Sun. The Sun’s structure,the nuclear reactions proceeding within its core,and the stability of its nuclear fires take up an entire chapter. This book will help answer many of the questions often asked, such as where does the wind come from,what are clouds made of, what are ocean currents, and what affects the Earth’s climate.

This wonderful book in the Science for Everyone series which is presented in this post was first introduced to me by anish.dot, thanks to him. The book was translated from the Russian by Yu. M. Taube and the Russian edition was edited by Ya, A. Smorodinsky [we have a book by him in the SFE series Temperature] and was first published by Mir in 1987.

Update Jan 2020

The Internet Archive Link

and here

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Science for Everyone – Me Or Not Me

Posted on December 22, 2011 by damitr

In continuing our previous post on Life Sciences in the Science for Everyone series, we now come to a book on human physiology and our bodily defense mechanisms against all external threats that is immunology. This one is called Me or Not Me by R. V. Petrov. As the title suggests the book explain the fundamentals of how our health is maintained and body functions.

In the preface of the book the author says:

Every particle of our body must bear an identification sign, or “tag”, saying ‘this is me’. If something does not have such a sign, or if the tag is foreign, tho particle would be saying: ‘this is not me’ Everything ‘other than me’ is destroyed by the immune system. I have compared two types of individuality spiritual and bodily to show tho all embracing significance of immunology, and the complexity and intricacy of the immune system. Only the future will reveal whether the mechanisms of the brain and the immune system are similar. This book has grown out of a booklet called Talks on New Immunology which was published in 1976 as a part of the “Eureka” series. The talks have been expanded in volume and their form revised in an effort to convey to the reader the huge volume of scientific information that has been accumulated by a young science of immunology.

The book was translated from the Russian by G. Yu. Degtyaryova and was first published by Mir in 1987.

Update Jan 2020

The Internet Archive Link

and here

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Science for Everyone – Luminiscence in Public Health

Posted on December 22, 2011 by damitr

Among the titles that have posted so far in the Science for Everyone series we do not have any on Life Sciences, so this is one starts that trend, which I hope will increase in the future. This particular book is called Luminescence in Public Health by N. N. Barashkov.

This what the back cover of the book says:

The luminescence phenomenon underlies many investigative methods in the most diverse disciplines: analytical chemistry, geology, fault detection, paleontology, forensic medicine, and other. It comprises two types of emission: fluorescence and phosphorecence. In medical and biological research, fluorescence analysis has no equal in terms of availability of equipment, simplicity of procedure, reproducibility of results, and sensitivity to minute quantities of the biological sample. This popular science book describes the application of fluorescence analysis to investigations of physiological processes and also to the diagnosis of diseases, assessment of its severity, and control of its course. Separate sections of the book are devoted to the use of this method in public health and pollution control. This book is intended for the general reader and those who are interested in problems of public health.

The book was translated from the Russian by A. Yurasovskaya and was first published by Mir in 1988.

Update 02 Jan 2020

The Internet Archive Link

and here

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