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The Joy of Abstraction: An Exploration of Math, Category Theory, and Life
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About The Joy Of Abstraction: An Exploration Of
Product Description Mathematician and popular science author Eugenia Cheng is on a mission to show you that mathematics can be flexible, creative, and visual. This joyful journey through the world of abstract mathematics into category theory will demystify mathematical thought processes and help you develop your own thinking, with no formal mathematical background needed. The book brings abstract mathematical ideas down to earth using examples of social justice, current events, and everyday life – from privilege to COVID-19 to driving routes. The journey begins with the ideas and workings of abstract mathematics, after which you will gently climb toward more technical material, learning everything needed to understand category theory, and then key concepts in category theory like natural transformations, duality, and even a glimpse of ongoing research in higher-dimensional category theory. For fans of How to Bake Pi, this will help you dig deeper into mathematical concepts and build your mathematical background. Review ‘This book is an educational tour de force that presents mathematical thinking as a right-brained activity. Most ‘left brain/right brain’ education-talk is at best a crude metaphor; but by putting the main focus on the process of (mathematical) abstraction, Eugenia Cheng supplies the reader (whatever their ‘brain-type’) with the mental tools to make that distinction precise and potentially useful. The book takes the reader along in small steps; but make no mistake, this is a major intellectual journey. Starting not with numbers, but everyday experiences, it develops what is regarded as a very advanced branch of abstract mathematics (category theory, though Cheng really uses this as a proxy for mathematical thinking generally). This is not watered-down math; it’s the real thing. And it challenges the reader to think-deeply at times. We ‘left-brainers’ can learn plenty from it too.’ Keith Devlin, Stanford University (Emeritus), author of The Joy of Sets ‘Eugenia Cheng loves mathematics―not the ordinary sort that most people encounter, but the most abstract sort that she calls ‘the mathematics of mathematics.’ And in this lovely excursion through her abstract world of Category Theory, she aims to give those who are willing to join her a glimpse of that world. The journey will change how they view mathematics. Cheng is a brilliant writer, with prose that feels like poetry. Her contagious enthusiasm makes her the perfect guide.’ John Ewing, President, Math for America ‘Eugenia Cheng's singular contribution is in making abstract mathematics relevant to all through her great ingenuity in developing novel connections between logic and life. Her latest book, The Joy of Abstraction, provides a long awaited fully rigorous yet gentle introduction to the ‘mathematics of mathematics,’ allowing anyone to experience the joy of learning to think categorically.’ Emily Riehl, Johns Hopkins University, author of Category Theory in Context ‘Archimedes is quoted as having said once: ‘Mathematics reveals its secrets only to those who approach it with pure love, for its own beauty.’ In this fascinating book, Eugenia Cheng approaches the abstract mathematical area of Category Theory with pure love, to reveal its beauty to anybody interested in learning something about contemporary mathematics.’ Mario Livio, astrophysicist, author of The Golden Ratio and Brilliant Blunders 'Eugenia Cheng’s latest book will appeal to a remarkably broad and diverse audience, from non-mathematicians who would like to get a sense of what mathematics is really about, to experienced mathematicians who are not category theorists but would like a basic understanding of category theory. Speaking as one of the latter, I found it a real pleasure to be able to read the book without constantly having to stop and puzzle over the details. I have learnt a lot from it already, including what the famous Yoneda lemma is all about, and I look forward to learning more
