Marcus du Sautoy Book order

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.

'Brilliantly clear and captivating prose' Stephen Fry An award-winning mathematician explores the maths behind the games we love and why we love to play them. Where should you move first in Connect 4? What is the best property in Monopoly? And how can pi help you win rock paper scissors?

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.

Each begins to long for what the other has, luring them into a strange loop. In this play for two variables, Marcus du Sautoy and Victoria Gould use mathematics and theatre to navigate the known and unknown reaches of our world.

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.

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.

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?

“An engaging voyage into some of the great mysteries and wonders of our world." --Alan Lightman, author of Einstein’s Dream and The Accidental Universe “No one is better at making the recondite accessible and exciting.” —Bill Bryson Brain Pickings and Kirkus Best Science Book of the Year Every week seems to throw up a new discovery, shaking the foundations of what we know. But are there questions we will never be able to answer—mysteries that lie beyond the predictive powers of science? In this captivating exploration of our most tantalizing unknowns, Marcus du Sautoy invites us to consider the problems in cosmology, quantum physics, mathematics, and neuroscience that continue to bedevil scientists and creative thinkers who are at the forefront of their fields. At once exhilarating, mind-bending, and compulsively readable, The Great Unknown challenges us to consider big questions—about the nature of consciousness, what came before the big bang, and what lies beyond our horizons—while taking us on a virtuoso tour of the great breakthroughs of the past and celebrating the men and women who dared to tackle the seemingly impossible and had the imagination to come up with new ways of seeing the world.

Part of the Little Ways to Live a Big Life series, an enlightening and informative book that teaches you how to count to infinity and beyond, by Britain's most celebrated mathematician.

Britain's most famous mathematician takes us to the edge of knowledge to show us what we cannot know.