In this appealing and well-written text, Richard Bronson gives readers a substructure for a firm understanding of the abstract concepts of linear algebra and its applications. The author starts with the concrete and computational, and leads the reader to a choice of major applications (Markov chains, least-squares approximation, and solution of differential equations using Jordan normal form).
Introductory Probability is a pleasure to read and provides a fine answer to the question: How do you construct Brownian motion from scratch, given that you are a competent analyst? There are at least two ways to develop probability theory. The more familiar path is to treat it as its own discipline, and work from intuitive examples such as coin flips and conundrums such as the Monty Hall problem.
Creating with Polymer Clay: Designs, Techniques, Projects
Here's a pop quiz: What single material can be modeled, molded, carved, woven, turned on a lathe and more, yet never chips, fades or shrinks? The answer can only be polymer clay. Artists rave about the endless possibilities of polymer clay, and the immediacy of spectacular results. Taking on appearances similar to ceramics, glass, beads, ivory, clay, plastic, wood, and even metal, it's like having dozens of materials in one package.
Reflecting Nature: Garden Designs for Wild Landscapes
The current horticultural trend of "naturalistic gardening" involves mimicking natural and wild areas and paying more attention to native plants. Two new books, offering two different approaches, explore this technique. In Reflecting Nature, the Malitzes (father and son) describe natural areas and discuss how these landscapes can be duplicated in the home garden.
This intriguing series takes at our universe and the planets, stars, etc. that are part of it.
After discussing the formation of our solar system, author Capaccio compares Earth and Mars, the planet most like our own. Often called the "Red Planet," Mars was associated by ancient peoples with war and violence, and named for the Roman god of war. By the 1500s, Tycho Brahe had collected extensive data about Mars, from which Kepler noted its elliptical orbit. In the eighteenth century, William Herschel used telescopes to calculate Mars's tilted axis and to chart the planet's features.
