The Beauty of Formulas

Name: The Beauty of Formulas
ISBN: 9787301314494

量子学派Peking University Press · ChinaAug 2025

4.1

Word count: 116K words
Chapters: 29
ISBN: 9787301314494

Report an error Find this book

Summary

Mathematics has permeated every field that demands rigorous thought, playing an irreplaceable role in biology, physics, chemistry, economics, sociology, and engineering. In this book, the author hopes to offer a taste of mathematical elegance through 23 formulas and to encourage readers to let their imaginations run wild. The book has 23 chapters, as follows: Chapter 1, 1+1=2, Tracing the Origins of Mathematics; Chapter 2, The Pythagorean Theorem; Chapter 3, Fermat's Last Theorem; Chapter 4, The Newton-Leibniz Formula; Chapter 5, Universal Gravitation, From Chaos to Light; Chapter 6, Euler's Formula; Chapter 7, Galois Theory Without a Solution; Chapter 8, The Riemann Hypothesis; Chapter 9, The Law of Increasing Entropy; Chapter 10, Maxwell's Equations; Chapter 11, Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem; Chapter 11, The Second Law of Thermodynamics; Chapter 12, The Black-Scholes Formula; Chapter 13, The Dirac Equation; Chapter 14, The Three-Body Problem; Chapter 15, Shannon's Formula; Chapter 16, Yang-Mills Gauge Theory; Chapter 17, Chaos Theory; Chapter 18, The Mass-Energy Equation; Chapter 19, Bayes' Theorem; Chapter 20, The Kelly Criterion; Chapter 21, The Fibonacci Sequence; Chapter 22, Elliptic Curve Equations; Chapter 23, The Schrödinger Equation. This book is suitable for mathematics enthusiasts and programmers.

Editor's review

The ambition of this book is not to teach problem-solving but to trace a line of mathematical taste through twenty-three formulas. From 1+1=2 to the Schrödinger equation, each formula marks a node that changed how we think, and the author tries to let readers see the imagination behind the formulas, not just the symbols themselves. Its value lies in putting mathematics back into the contexts of science, economics, and engineering, showing why formulas are irreplaceable. You need not read it in order; dip into whichever chapters interest you, since each reads more like a standalone popular-science essay. For mathematics enthusiasts, it offers the pleasure of "so that's why"; for programmers, it fills in the mathematical intuition behind algorithms. A caveat: it emphasizes inspiration rather than systematic derivation, so it suits casual interest reading rather than exam preparation.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in the history of mathematics and scientific thought
Programmers and engineers looking to build mathematical intuition
Students who enjoy fragmented popular-science reading
Mathematics teachers seeking supplementary material beyond the classroom

Not a good fit for

Readers preparing for exams who need systematic derivations and exercises
Professional researchers expecting rigorous mathematical proofs
Readers intimidated by formula notation itself

Reading tips

Start with the table of contents and pick the formulas that look most familiar; no need to begin with Chapter 1
After each chapter, restate in your own words what problem the formula solves
Skip derivations you don't follow and grasp the conclusions and background stories first
Keep a pen handy to note in the margins keywords you want to look up later

About the publisher

Peking University Press China · Founded in 1979

Peking University Press is a comprehensive university press whose publishing areas cover classical literature, popular science, social culture, world history, Western philosophy, and culture. Its catalogue contains 6,031 titles, with representative books including A Dream of Red Mansions, Relativity: The Special and General Theory (15th Edition) (with Einstein's classic papers on unified field theory and other topics), Elements, Conics, The Aristocratic Families of the Eastern Jin, The Philosophy of Mythology (Volume I), The Philosophy of Mythology (Volume II), and The Origin of Continents and Oceans. Representative authors include Cao Xueqin, Zhou Ruchang, Albert Einstein, Euclid, Apollonius, Tian Yuqing, Schelling, and Xian Gang. The press has developed distinctive strengths in classical Chinese literature and in the translation of Western philosophical classics, while also covering scientific classics and social and cultural studies. As public information is limited, this description is based only on the books in the catalogue and offers no further extrapolation.

版权信息
序公式铸就文明天梯
前言人类的墓志铭
理论篇
1 1+1=2：数学的溯源
2 勾股定理：数与形的结合
3 费马大定理：困扰人类358年
4 牛顿-莱布尼茨公式：无穷小的秘密
5 万有引力：从混沌到光明
6 欧拉公式：最美的等式
7 伽罗瓦理论：无解的方程
8 危险的黎曼猜想
9 熵增定律：寂灭是宇宙宿命？
10 麦克斯韦方程组：让黑暗消失
11 质能方程：开启潘多拉的魔盒
12 薛定谔方程：猫与量子世界
13 狄拉克方程：反物质的“先知”
14 杨-米尔斯规范场论：大统一之路
应用篇
15 香农公式：5G背后的主宰
16 布莱克-斯科尔斯方程：金融“巫师”
17 枪械：弹道里的“技术哲学”
18 胡克定律：机械表的心脏
19 混沌理论：一只蝴蝶引发的思考
20 凯利公式：赌场上的最大赢家
21 贝叶斯定理：AI如何思考？
22 三体问题：挥之不去的乌云
23 椭圆曲线方程：比特币的基石
人物索引

FAQ

Can I read this book if my math foundation is weak?

You can try, but adjust your expectations. The book emphasizes the background and significance of formulas rather than being a systematic textbook; readers can skip complex derivations and read the stories and conclusions first. If even basic notation feels unfamiliar, consider reading alongside an introductory popular math book for comparison.

Is this book suitable for programmers?

Yes. The book covers topics such as Shannon's formula, Bayes' theorem, and the Kelly criterion, which relate to algorithms, information processing, and decision-making. Programmers can use it to build mathematical intuition, but should not expect direct correspondence to specific code implementations.

Do I need to read the chapters in order?

No. The chapters are relatively independent, and readers can start with formulas that interest them. Reading in order lets you sense the thread of mathematical development, while skipping around suits fragmented time. It's best to start with formulas you're familiar with and then expand into unfamiliar territory.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

量子学派 Author · China

Qianzi Xuepai (Quantum School) is a Chinese science-popularization writing team that publishes under a collective byline. Its nationality is Chinese, and public information about it is limited: neither its dates nor its membership have been clearly recorded. Judging from the two works held in the collection, the team's writing spans two directions—science popularization and the practical use of artificial intelligence. On the one hand, it takes quantum physics and the history of science as entry points, striving to make abstract scientific concepts accessible and readable; on the other, it attends to the real-world use of emerging technical tools, offering introductory, hands-on guidance on AI-assisted writing. Its works commonly fall under science popularization and artificial intelligence, and its overall style balances readability with practicality, addressing both ordinary readers' curiosity about scientific principles and their practical need to learn new tools. Beyond the thematic tendencies revealed by the works themselves, further public information is needed to fill in the team's specific background and experience.