His new book is In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World.
One of Stewart's top ten popular mathematics books, as told to the Guardian:
The Colossal Book of Mathematics by Martin GardnerRead about another book on the list.
In his long-running Mathematical Games column in Scientific American, Gardner – a journalist with no mathematical training – created the field of recreational mathematics. On the surface his columns were about puzzles and games, but they all concealed mathematical principles, some simple, some surprisingly deep. He combined a playful and clear approach to his subject with a well-developed taste for what was mathematically significant. The book consists of numerous selections from his columns, classified according to the mathematical area involved. Learn how to make a hexaflexagon and why playing Brussels sprouts is a waste of time.
The Page 99 Test: Ian Stewart's Why Beauty Is Truth.
--Marshal Zeringue