The Joy of x
A guided tour of math, 
from one to infinity

Publisher's description: 
In 2010, award-winning professor Steven Strogatz wrote a series for the New York Times online called “The Elements of Math.” It was hugely popular: Each piece climbed the most emailed list and elicited hundreds of comments. Readers begged for more, and Strogatz has now delivered. In this fun, fast-paced book, he offers us all a second chance at math.

Each short chapter of The Joy of x provides an “Aha!” moment, starting with why numbers are helpful, and moving on to such topics as shapes, calculus, fat tails, and infinity. Strogatz explains the ideas of math gently and clearly, with wit, insight, and brilliant illustrations. Assuming no knowledge, only curiosity, he shows how math connects to literature, philosophy, law, medicine, art, business, even pop culture and current events. For example, did O.J. do it? How should you flip your mattress to get the maximum wear out of it? How does Google search the Internet? How many people should you date before settling down? Strogatz is the math teacher you wish you’d had, and The Joy of x is the book you’ll want to give to all your smart and curious friends.

Learn more about The Joy of x
Buy the book

---

 
The Calculus of Friendship
What a teacher and a student learned about life 
while corresponding about math

Click here for trailer  

Publisher's Description:  
The Calculus of Friendship is the story of an extraordinary connection between a teacher and a student, as chronicled through more than thirty years of letters between them. What makes their relationship unique is that it is based almost entirely on a shared love of calculus. For them, calculus is more than a branch of mathematics; it is a game they love playing together, a constant when all else is in flux. The teacher goes from the prime of his career to retirement, competes in whitewater kayaking at the international level, and loses a son. The student matures from high school math whiz to Ivy League professor, suffers the sudden death of a parent, and blunders into a marriage destined to fail. Yet through it all they take refuge in the haven of calculus--until a day comes when calculus is no longer enough.

Like calculus itself, The Calculus of Friendship is an exploration of change. It's about the transformation that takes place in a student's heart, as he and his teacher reverse roles, as they age, as they are buffeted by life itself. Written by a renowned teacher and communicator of mathematics, The Calculus of Friendship is warm, intimate, and deeply moving. The most inspiring ideas of calculus, differential equations, and chaos theory are explained through metaphors, images, and anecdotes in a way that all readers will find beautiful, and even poignant. Math enthusiasts, from high school students to professionals, will delight in the offbeat problems and lucid explanations in the letters.

For anyone whose life has been changed by a mentor, The Calculus of Friendship will be an unforgettable journey.

Interviews:
with Alan Alda
Inside Higher Ed Q&A
SEED Magazine Q&A

Reviews:
American Scientist
Bookslut
Science
Nature
Notices of the American Mathematical Society
MAA (Mathematical Association of America) Reviews
MathRecreation
National Review Online

---

Chaos

The Great Courses, 2008, 
a 24-lecture video series.

Chaos theory affects nearly every field of human knowledge and endeavor, from astronomy and zoology to the arts, the humanities, and business.  This course shows you the importance of this revolutionary field and how it has helped us come closer than ever to solving some of life's mysteries. Today, the underlying mathematics of science's major unsolved problems—including the nature of consciousness, the origin of life, and cancer—are essentially nonlinear; express any of these problems as a mathematical system and you learn that the whole may be either more or less than the sum of its parts.

In its ability to tackle bewilderingly complex problems, chaos theory has revolutionized the way we perceive the world around us. It allows scientists to reach beyond a dependency on the analytical limitations of the deterministic, "clockwork" universe that was the legacy of thinkers like Galileo, Kepler, and especially Newton.

---

SYNC  
The emerging science 
of spontaneous order

Sync has been translated into German, Italian, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese, and was featured on Amazon's list of Customers' Favorites in science for 2003.  Selected as a Best Book of the Year by Discover magazine in 2003. Won the Anomalist Award for the best science book of 2003.  The Korean edition was named “Best Science Book of 2005” by Ministry of Science & Technology Korea, and received the “Best Science Book Award” given by Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics.

Publisher's description: The tendency to synchronize may be the most mysterious and pervasive drive in all of nature. It has intrigued some of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century, including Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman, Norbert Wiener, Brian Josephson, and Arthur Winfree.

At once elegant and riveting, Sync tells the story of the dawn of a new science. Steven Strogatz, a leading mathematician in the fields of chaos and complexity theory, explains how enormous systems can synchronize themselves, from the electrons in a superconductor to the pacemaker cells in our hearts. He shows that although these phenomena might seem unrelated on the surface, at a deeper level there is a connection, forged by the unifying power of mathematics.

Publisher's Weekly, Starred Review

Reviews

Full review in Nature

---

Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos
With applications to physics, biology, chemistry, and engineering

An introductory text in nonlinear dynamics and chaos, emphasizing applications in several areas of science, which include vibrations, biological rhythms, insect outbreaks, and genetic control systems. This bestselling textbook on chaos contains a rich selection of illustrations, with many exercises and examples.  (Perseus Books, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1994).

---

Software:

B. West, S.H. Strogatz, J.M. McDill, J. Cantwell, and H. Hohn.  Interactive Differential Equations.  Addison-Wesley Interactive, Reading, MA (1996).  

Click here for free online version

Books edited:

M. Golubitsky, D. Luss, and S.H. Strogatz, editors. Pattern Formation in Continuous and Coupled Systems (Volume 115, IMA Volumes in Mathematics and its Applications) Springer-Verlag, New York (1999).