The pleasures of counting
by Thomas William Körner · first published 1996
75% recommend25% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Amusingly written introduction to applied mathematics, with historical stories such as code-breaking and convoy protection; suits curious non-specialists and kids as well as readers wanting intellectual challenge.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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A really exciting book about this phase of the war, which will be of interest to any math-oriented hacker, is The Pleasures of Counting by T. W. Körner. http://www.amazon.com/Pleasures-Counting-T-W-K%C3%B6rner/dp/...
on “German Tank Problem” ↗Tom Körner's "The Pleasures of Counting" ( https://www.amazon.com/Pleasures-Counting-T-W-K%C3%B6rner/dp... ) is an amusingly written yet intellectually challenging introduction to applied maths for the general audience. (His website https://www.dpmms.cam.ac.uk/~twk/…
on “A Mathematician’s Apology” ↗…Mathematics by Ian Stewart http://www.amazon.com/Concepts-Modern-Mathematics-Ian-Stewar... Numbers and Geometry by John Stillwell. http://www.amazon.com/Numbers-Geometry-John-Stillwell/dp/038... The Pleasures of Counting by T. W. Körner http://www.amazon.com/Pleasures-Counting-T-W-K%C3%B6rner/dp/... Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction by Timothy Gowers http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Short-Introduction-Timothy...
on “Ask HN: Books That Gratify One's Intellectual Curiosity?” ↗…will find at least a few points where they are in over their heads. Körner urges them to skip over such parts or, even better, to find some professor willing to discuss them. Read this way, Körner's The Pleasures of Counting is really a pleasure, and may well attract many students to mathematics. It strikes me, in many ways, as the ideal book for independent reading or for a first-year seminar.
on “How To Read Mathematics” ↗If you like stories like this, there are a number of similar stories (e.g. this one, cracking the enigma code, protecting convoys) in a book called The Pleasures of Counting: http://www.amazon.com/Pleasures-Counting-T-W-K%C3%B6rner/dp/... - it's not all world war 2, but is very interesting and does contain a lot of information on the math used during the war.
on “How Allies Used Math Against German Tanks” ↗…for high school level contests. For an interesting (in places laugh-out-loud funny) book about the place of mathematics in modern life and how mathematicians think about mathematics, I recommend The Pleasures of Counting by T. W. Körner. http://www.amazon.com/Pleasures-Counting-T-246-rner/dp/05215... This one is more challenging as to reading level and as to mathematical level than the recommendations above, but well…
on “Ask HN: What books would you give a 16-year old interested in Math?” ↗Richardson was an early interest and influence to me. For those so inclined and with a taste for a little more on Richardsons work and related areas I heartily recommend: TH Körner "Pleasures of Counting" and Manfred Schroeder "Fractals, Chaos & Power Laws" Wonderful mental fodder for kids and non-mathematical adults
on “Cloudy With a Chance of War” ↗The Pleasures of Counting by T. W. Körner. If you want something more oriented towards analysis, I see he also authored a Calculus for the Ambitious but I have no experience with it.
on “Ask HN: Recommend a maths book for a teenager?” ↗> EDIT: rephrased because despite having a maths degree I can't count. You would probably enjoy Tom Körner's book 'The Pleasures of Counting'. See eg https://maa.org/press/maa-reviews/the-pleasures-of-counting
on “The seventh most popular easily understood unsolved problem on MathOverflow” ↗Not directly about RAND, but related to Operations Research: Tom Körner has an excellent book called 'The Pleasures of Counting'. See eg https://www.ams.org/notices/199803/comm-bkrev-blank.pdf for a review.
on “When RAND made magic in Santa Monica” ↗I enjoyed T. W. Körner's The Pleasures of Counting ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/0521568234 ).
on “Ask HN: Casual Math Book Suggestions” ↗If you want a mathematically treatment, The Pleasures of Counting is an excellent book about this and sundry other marvelous topics.
on “Rare and hardest to crack Enigma code machine sells for $437k” ↗Just to throw in a plug: 'The Pleasures of Counting' is one of the best math books you can get your hands on.
on “How to Read a Book [pdf]” ↗…Datastructures' is a real treat. Paul Graham's 'On Lisp' is worth reading. It's a bit on the pragmatic side. http://www.paulgraham.com/onlisp.html Above all of them, the best book in general is 'The Pleasures of Counting'.
on “Haskell's Children” ↗…and enjoyed it. But I'm not sure more people should read it today. If they do and enjoy it, good for them! But many parts haven't aged all that well. However, I can still very warmly recommend 'The Pleasures of Counting' to this very day.
on “Principia Mathematica is modern and insightful” ↗