Ben Orlin's Books

Change Is the Only Constant

The Wisdom of Calculus in a Madcap World

By: Ben Orlin

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Change Is the Only Constant

The Wisdom of Calculus in a Madcap World

By: Ben Orlin

From popular math blogger and author of the underground bestseller Math With Bad Drawings, Change Is The Only Constant is an engaging and eloquent exploration of the intersection between calculus and daily life, complete with Orlin's sly humor and wonderfully bad drawings. Change is the Only Constant is an engaging and eloquent exploration of the intersection between calculus and daily life, complete with Orlin's sly humor and memorably bad drawings. By spinning 28 engaging mathematical tales, Orlin shows us that calculus is simply another language to express the very things we humans grapple with every day -- love, risk, time, and most importantly, change. Divided into two parts, "Moments" and "Eternities," and drawing on everyone from Sherlock Holmes to Mark Twain to David Foster Wallace, Change is the Only Constant unearths connections between calculus, art, literature, and a beloved dog named Elvis. This is not just math for math's sake; it's math for the sake of becoming a wiser and more thoughtful human.

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Page Count

459

Publisher

Black Dog & Leventhal

Published Date

ISBN 10

031650906X

ISBN 13

9780316509060

Math for English Majors

A Human Take on the Universal Language

By: Ben Orlin

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Math for English Majors

A Human Take on the Universal Language

By: Ben Orlin

In this trailblazing work from the internet’s most empathetic math teacher, Ben Orlin unravels the secrets behind the world’s most confounding language. Math, it is said, is the "universal language.” But if a language brings people together, why does math make so many of us feel so alone? In Math for English Majors, bestselling author Ben Orlin (Math with Bad Drawings) offers fresh insights for the mathematically perplexed and mathematical masters alike. As Orlin reveals, the “universal language” is precisely that: a language. It has nouns (numbers), verbs (calculations), and grammar (algebra). It has funny idioms (“exponential”), quirky etymologies (“squaring”), and peculiar ambiguities (“PEMDAS”). It even has its own form of literature, with equations ranging from the simple wisdom of A2 + B2 = C2 to the startling profundity of eπi + 1 = 0. Along the way, he shares relatable stories of his own mathematical misunderstandings and epiphanies, as well as the trials and triumphs of his students. And, as always, he sheds further light and levity on the subject with his inept—yet strangely effective—drawings.

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Page Count

269

Publisher

Black Dog & Leventhal

Published Date

ISBN 10

0762499834

ISBN 13

9780762499830

Change Is the Only Constant

The Wisdom of Calculus in a Madcap World

By: Ben Orlin

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Change Is the Only Constant

The Wisdom of Calculus in a Madcap World

By: Ben Orlin

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459

Publisher

Black Dog & Leventhal

Published Date

ISBN 10

031650906X

ISBN 13

9780316509060

Math with Bad Drawings

Illuminating the Ideas That Shape Our Reality

By: Ben Orlin

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Math with Bad Drawings

Illuminating the Ideas That Shape Our Reality

By: Ben Orlin

A hilarious reeducation in mathematics-full of joy, jokes, and stick figures-that sheds light on the countless practical and wonderful ways that math structures and shapes our world. In Math With Bad Drawings, Ben Orlin reveals to us what math actually is; its myriad uses, its strange symbols, and the wild leaps of logic and faith that define the usually impenetrable work of the mathematician. Truth and knowledge come in multiple forms: colorful drawings, encouraging jokes, and the stories and insights of an empathetic teacher who believes that math should belong to everyone. Orlin shows us how to think like a mathematician by teaching us a brand-new game of tic-tac-toe, how to understand an economic crises by rolling a pair of dice, and the mathematical headache that ensues when attempting to build a spherical Death Star. Every discussion in the book is illustrated with Orlin's trademark "bad drawings," which convey his message and insights with perfect pitch and clarity. With 24 chapters covering topics from the electoral college to human genetics to the reasons not to trust statistics, Math with Bad Drawings is a life-changing book for the math-estranged and math-enamored alike.

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Page Count

556

Publisher

Black Dog & Leventhal

Published Date

ISBN 10

0316509027

ISBN 13

9780316509022

Math Games with Bad Drawings

75 1/4 Simple, Challenging, Go-Anywhere Games—And Why They Matter

By: Ben Orlin

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Math Games with Bad Drawings

75 1/4 Simple, Challenging, Go-Anywhere Games—And Why They Matter

By: Ben Orlin

Bestselling author and worst-drawing artist Ben Orlin expands his oeuvre with this interactive collection of mathematical games. With 70-plus games, each taking a minute to learn and a lifetime to master, this treasure trove will delight, educate, and entertain. From beloved math popularizer Ben Orlin comes a masterfully compiled collection of dozens of playable mathematical games.This ultimate game chest draws on mathematical curios, childhood classics, and soon-to-be classics, each hand-chosen to be (1) fun, (2) thought-provoking, and (3) easy to play. With just paper, pens, and the occasional handful of coins, you and a partner can enjoy hours of fun—and hours of challenge. Orlin’s sly humor, expansive knowledge, and so-bad-they’re-good drawings show us how simple rules summon our best thinking. Games include: Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe Sprouts Battleship Quantum Go Fish Dots and Boxes Black Hole Order and Chaos Sequencium Paper Boxing Prophecies Arpeggios Banker Francoprussian Labyrinth Cats and Dogs And many more.

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Page Count

318

Publisher

Black Dog & Leventhal

Published Date

ISBN 10

0762499850

ISBN 13

9780762499854

A History of Death in 17th Century England

By: Ben Norman

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A History of Death in 17th Century England

By: Ben Norman

A look at the constant confrontation with mortality the English experienced in a time of plague, smallpox, civil war, and other calamities. In the lives of the rich and poor alike in seventeenth-century England, death was a hovering presence, much more visible in everyday existence than it is today. It is a highly important and surprisingly captivating part of the epic story of England during the turbulent years of the 1600s. This book guides readers through the subject using a chronological approach, as would have been experienced by those living in the country at the time, beginning with the myriad causes of death, including rampant disease, war, and capital punishment, and finishing with an exploration of posthumous commemoration, including mass interments in times of disease, the burial of suicides, and the unconventional laying to rest of English Catholics. Although the people of the seventeenth century did not fully realize it, when it came to the confrontation of mortality they were living in wildly changing times.

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Page Count

242

Publisher

Pen and Sword History

Published Date

ISBN 10

1526755270

ISBN 13

9781526755278

Democracy in Divided Societies

Electoral Engineering for Conflict Management

By: Ben Reilly

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Democracy in Divided Societies

Electoral Engineering for Conflict Management

By: Ben Reilly

This text examines the potential of electoral engineering as a mechanism of conflict management in divided societies. It focuses on the little-known experience of a number of divided societies which have used vote-pooling electoral systems.

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Page Count

236

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0521797306

ISBN 13

9780521797306

Network Economics: A Variational Inequality Approach

By: David Ben-Arieh

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Network Economics: A Variational Inequality Approach

By: David Ben-Arieh

Computational economics has been at the forefront in stimulating the de velopment of mathematical methodologies for the analysis and solution of complex, large-scale problems. The past decade, in particular, has witnessed a dramatic growth of interest in this area. Supported by the increasing avail ability of data and advances in computer architectures, the scale and scope of problems that can now be handled are unveiling new horizons in both theoretical modeling and policy analysis. Accompanying the activity in computational economics is a need for the unification, documentation, and presentation of fundamental methodologies for use by both researchers and practitioners. This volume aims to make a contribution in this direction. The focus of this book is on network economics. Physical networks are pervasive in today's society, be they in the form of transportation networks, telecommunication networks, energy pipelines, electric power networks, etc. Mathematical networks, on the other hand, may be used to represent not only physical networks but also interactions among economic agents. In many applications, the network representation of an economic equilibrium problem may be abstract in that the nodes of the network need not corre spond to locations in space and the links of the network to trade or travel routes.

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Page Count

334

Publisher

Springer Science & Business Media

Published Date

ISBN 10

9401121788

ISBN 13

9789401121781

Imagining Peace

A History of Early English Pacifist Ideas

By: Ben Lowe

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Imagining Peace

A History of Early English Pacifist Ideas

By: Ben Lowe

In this book Ben Lowe examines the developing language of peace in late medieval and Renaissance England. He challenges the popular assumption that this was simply an age of war during which ideas of peace exercised very little impact on society and government. He offers a close reading of English writers on peace, integrating this analysis with careful attention to the political context, particularly during times of war, when calls for peace were more vocal. Lowe traces the concept of peace from its early Christian usage up to the sixteenth century. He focuses on the long period of foreign wars (1349&–1560), often punctuated by domestic unrest, when theories of peace were increasingly discussed within the larger context of war and policymaking. Such practical concerns invariably led to a richer and more varied peace discourse. For instance, Lowe is able to show a shift in discussion away from platitudes&—such as the restoration of goodwill among Christians&—toward a more hard-headed set of foreign-policy problems, such as famine, inflation, disruption of trade, and the maintenance of the king's honor. He draws on an extraordinarily wide variety of sources, including theological and philosophical works, sermons, official prayers, moral treatises, commentaries, military handbooks, legal texts, state papers, chronicles, fiction, popular ballads, diaries, and personal letters. Imagining Peace will appeal to others beyond historians of late medieval and early modern England. Lowe applies methods from other disciplines, especially literary and cultural studies and political theory. His analysis takes into account the problems and limitations of reconstructing past thought and determining authorial intent. Nonetheless, the text remains surprisingly free of technical jargon, making this a timely book for anyone interested in the origins of pacifism.

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Page Count

380

Publisher

Penn State Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0271043415

ISBN 13

9780271043418

Promises Unfulfilled

A History of the First Lutheran College in North Carolina

By: Ben Callahan

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Promises Unfulfilled

A History of the First Lutheran College in North Carolina

By: Ben Callahan

This narrative is a chronological history of the first Lutheran institution of higher learning in the state of North Carolina. Although several individual North Carolina Lutheran congregations established their own private academies during the Church’s first 110 years in the state, it was not until 1855 that the North Carolina Lutheran Synod opened its first “high school of a collegiate character”.

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Page Count

417

Publisher

iUniverse

Published Date

ISBN 10

153209504X

ISBN 13

9781532095047

The Hate Game

Benn, Eubank and British Boxing's Bitterest Rivalry

By: Ben Dirs

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The Hate Game

Benn, Eubank and British Boxing's Bitterest Rivalry

By: Ben Dirs

Chris Eubank, with his jodhpurs and gold-topped cane, who lisped in his posh accent about his distaste for the business of 'pugilism', could not have appeared more different from Nigel Benn, 'The Dark Destroyer', the Essex boy who had battled with his demons to reach the top of the boxing world. Their boxing style was just as contrasting, and it was inevitable that they would have to settle their differences in the ring. Their first bout for the WBO world middleweight title, in Birmingham in November 1990, was a brutal affair, widely held to be one of the all-time great contests. Eubank emerged victorious over Benn, the people's champion, and immediately fans called for a rematch. But, for three years, the two men circled each other before coming together again in front of over 40,000 fans at Old Trafford and a global TV audience estimated at 500 million. Author Ben Dirs has interviewed the key protagonists to tell a story that gripped the nation and that still resonates today, 20 years on. It is a tale that reveals the best and the worst of boxing, while rvealing the truth that lay behind the public facade.

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Page Count

402

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

1471129055

ISBN 13

9781471129056

Book's by Ben Orlin

Change Is the Only Constant

Change Is the Only Constant

Math for English Majors

Math for English Majors

Change Is the Only Constant

Change Is the Only Constant

Math with Bad Drawings

Math with Bad Drawings

Math Games with Bad Drawings

Math Games with Bad Drawings

A History of Death in 17th Century England

A History of Death in 17th Century England

Democracy in Divided Societies

Democracy in Divided Societies

Network Economics: A Variational Inequality Approach

Network Economics: A Variational Inequality Approach

Imagining Peace

Imagining Peace

Promises Unfulfilled

Promises Unfulfilled

The Hate Game

The Hate Game

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