An Equation for Every Occasion: Simple Formulas for Surviving the Unexpected

Description

If you're a little worried about what the future holds, you might be stock-piling cans of beans or building an underground bunker. But the real key to surviving in an unpredictable world is understanding the natural forces and relationships that rule everything we do. An Equation for Every Occasiontackles some frankly ridiculous scenarios with essential bullet-proof equations that you'll probably never be able to apply in real life. Whether you paid much attention to the mathematics you were taught at school or not, the inescapable truth is that real life is full of equations and a lot of our everyday decisions are calculated - we just don't always realise it. And that's ok - you absentmindedly use differentiation when you're driving your car and it gets you from A to B. You unthinkingly apply basic geometry when you're crossing the road between traffic and you will pretty much always make it to the other side safely. But what if you were plummeting to your death in a plane with no engine and you needed to know what size parachute to make from your cabinmate's sari in order to jump and survive? These entirely plausible real-life situations clearly require a little more thought. From how to work out the best guard configuration to protect a world-famous painting in the Louvre from being stolen to successfully piloting a space shuttle back to earth from the ISS to saving the planet from total blackout during an energy crisis, Chris Waring demonstrates the mind-bending and humanity-saving beauty of equations.

Chris Waring studied for a degree in Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College, London before becoming a maths teacher. Since then he has taught small children and Oxbridge candidates and everybody in between. He is the author of Maths in Bite-sized Chunks and From Zero to Infinity in 26 Centuries, also published by Michael O'Mara Books.