Marcus Du Sautoy Libri

Nel 1770, il quattordicenne Mozart, in Italia con suo padre, assistette alla funzione nella Cappella Sistina per ascoltare il Miserere di Allegri, un pezzo corale eseguibile solo a Roma durante la Settimana Santa. Colpito dall'opera, tornato nel suo alloggio, scrisse di getto l'intero spartito a nove voci, basandosi sulla sua memoria. Tuttavia, Marcus du Sautoy, in "Il disordine perfetto", suggerisce che non fu solo la memoria a permettere questa impresa, ma la straordinaria capacità di Mozart di comprendere la struttura logica della composizione, catturandone la simmetria per ricostruirla. Questo episodio rappresenta solo uno dei tanti esempi della potenza della simmetria, un elemento che permea ogni aspetto del mondo naturale e umano: dalle molecole di carbonio alle pietre di Stonehenge, dai mosaici dell'Alhambra ai codici informatici, dai virus alla musica, fino al funzionamento della mente umana. Du Sautoy ci guida in un viaggio nell'universo della simmetria e delle sue sfaccettature, esplorando il lavoro della matematica per comprenderla, interpretarla e classificarla.

La successione dei numeri primi rappresenta fin dall'antica Grecia uno dei misteri più affascinanti della scienza: c'è un ordine prevedibile nella serie dei numeri primi, una regola per stabilire ad esempio quale sarà il centesimo numero primo? Nel 1859, il matematico tedesco Bernhard Riemann presentò una sua ipotesi, che sembrava rivelare una magica armonia tra i primi e gli altri numeri. Da allora, l'Ipotesi di Riemann ossessiona i matematici, e oggi chi riuscisse a dimostrarla vincerebbe un premio da un milione di dollari. In questo libro, Marcus du Sautoy presenta gli enigmi legati ai numeri primi e le loro fondamentali implicazioni in campi che vanno dalla fisica quantistica alla sicurezza informatica. Prima edizione Rizzoli 2004.

Brilliant and fascinating. No one is better at making the recondite accessible and exciting. Britain's most famous mathematician takes us to the edge of knowledge to explore what lies beyond our understanding. Is the universe infinite? What occurred before the Big Bang? Where is human consciousness located in the brain? Are there undiscovered particles beyond the Higgs boson? In a world where science dominates headlines with breakthroughs and once-inscrutable mathematical problems are solved, we must ask: are there limits to our discoveries about the physical universe? This personal journey delves into the boundaries of knowledge, as Marcus du Sautoy engages with leading experts in quantum physics, cosmology, sensory perception, and neuroscience. He navigates the complexities of current understanding, grappling with contradictory narratives and cutting-edge data. Will we ever know everything, or are there realms of research that will always elude human comprehension? If so, how do we reconcile our existence in a universe filled with mysteries? This thought-provoking expedition challenges us to consider the extent of our knowledge and whether there are indeed things we cannot know. Prepare to journey to the edge of knowledge and discover the limits of human understanding.

Will a computer ever compose a symphony, write a prize-winning novel, or create a masterpiece? As humans, we possess a remarkable ability to produce art that elevates and transforms our existence. However, advancements in AI are challenging traditional notions, revealing that many tasks can be performed as well, if not better, by machines. This raises the question: can machines truly be creative? Can they learn from the art that resonates with us and discern the difference between the extraordinary and the ordinary? In this exploration of creativity, the author delves into the nature of artistic expression while providing insights into how algorithms function and the mathematical principles that guide them. He investigates the emotional responses we have to art, considering how much of it stems from our brains responding to patterns and structures. The discussion extends to creativity in mathematics, art, language, and music, probing how soon machines might produce original creative works and whether this could inspire greater imagination in humans. The outcome is a thought-provoking examination of both AI and the fundamental essence of humanity.

How do you remember more and forget less? How can you earn more and become more creative just by moving house? And how do you pack a car boot most efficiently? This is your shortcut to the art of the shortcut. Mathematics is full of better ways of thinking, and with over 2,000 years of knowledge to draw on, Oxford mathematician Marcus du Sautoy interrogates his passion for shortcuts in this fresh and fascinating guide. After all, shortcuts have enabled so much of human progress, whether in constructing the first cities around the Euphrates 5,000 years ago, using calculus to determine the scale of the universe or in writing today's algorithms that help us find a new life partner. As well as looking at the most useful shortcuts in history - such as measuring the circumference of the earth in 240 BC to diagrams that illustrate how modern GPS works - Marcus also looks at how you can use shortcuts in investing or how to learn a musical instrument to memory techniques. He talks to, among many, the writer Robert MacFarlane, cellist Natalie Clein and the psychologist Suzie Orbach, asking whether shortcuts are always the best idea and, if so, when they use them. With engaging puzzles and conundrums throughout to illustrate the shortcut's ability to find solutions with speed, Thinking Better offers many clever strategies for daily complex problems.

As a species, we have an extraordinary ability to create works of art that elevate, expand and transform what it means to be human. The novels of Henry James can communicate the inner world of one human being to another. The music of Wagner or Schubert takes us on an emotional rollercoaster ride as we give ourselves up to their sublime sounds. These are the expressions of what Marcus du Sautoy calls 'the creativity code'. Yet some believe that the new developments in AI and machine learning are so sophisticated that they can learn what it means to be human - that they can crack the code. - Technology has always allowed us to extend our understanding of being human. But will the new tools of AI allow to us to create in different ways? - Could recent developments in AI and machine learning also mean that it is no longer just human beings who can create art? - And creativity, like consciousness, is one of those words that is hard to pin down: what is it that we are challenging these machines to do? In The Creativity Code, Marcus du Sautoy examines what these new developments might mean, for both the creative arts and his own subject, mathematics. From the Turing test to AlphaGo, are there limits to what algorithms can achieve, or might they be able to perfectly mimic human creativity? And what's more, could they help Marcus to see more deeply into the complex mathematical problems with which he so often wrestles?

Every time we download a song from i-tunes, take a flight across the Atlantic or talk on our mobile phones, we are relying on great mathematical inventions. Maths may fail to provide answers to various of its own problems, but it can provide answers to problems that don't seem to be its own -- how prime numbers are the key to Real Madrid's success, to secrets on the Internet and to the survival of insects in the forests of North America. In The Num8er My5teries, Marcus du Sautoy explains how to fake a Jackson Pollock; how to work out whether or not the universe has a hole in the middle of it; how to make the world's roundest football. He shows us how to see shapes in four dimensions -- and how maths makes you a better gambler. He tells us about the quest to predict the future -- from the flight of asteroids to an impending storm, from bending a ball like Beckham to predicting population growth.It's a book to dip in to; a book to challenge and puzzle -- and a book that gives us answers.

Why do some games seem to be universal while others have a particular connection to the culture of the people playing them? Around the World in 80 Games is about the mathematics of chance, game theory, gamification, gaming strategies and computer games. Traversing the globe, Marcus du Sautoy looks at the genesis of games new and old, explores how to invent a good game and explains the fascination of a popular lockdown game. The most simple games endure: board games, card games and dice games have captivated us for centuries and the acclaimed mathematician and author of The Creativity Code (among many others) will once again bring mathematics to the fore with insight and aplomb in Around the World in 80 Games.

An award-winning mathematician and Oxford professor looks to the arts to uncover the key mathematical structures that underpin both nature and human creativity. Many of the artists that we encounter are completely unaware of the mathematics that bubble beneath their craft, while some consciously use it for inspiration. Our instincts might tell us that these two subjects are incompatible forces with nothing in common - mathematics being the realm of precise logic and art being the realm of emotion and aesthetics - but what if we're wrong? Blueprints asks us to consider that mathematics and art may not be polar opposites after all. Their complementary relationship spans a vast historical and geographic landscape, from the earliest stone circles to Mozart's obsession with numbers and the radically modern architecture of Zaha Hadid. Whether we are searching for meaning in an abstract painting or finding patterns in poetry, there are blueprints everywhere: symmetry, prime numbers, the golden ratio and more. In this bold and philosophical exploration of human creativity, Marcus du Sautoy unpacks how we make art, why a creative mindset is vital for discovering new mathematics, and how a fundamental connection to the natural world intrinsically links these two subjects.