Optimists believe this is the best of all possible worlds. And pessimists fear that might really be the case. But what is the best of all possible worlds? How do we define it? This question has preoccupied philosophers and theologians for ages, but there was a time, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when scientists and mathematicians felt they could provide the a...
Optimists believe this is the best of all possible worlds. And pessimists fear that might really be the case. But what is the best of all possible worlds? How do we define it? This question has preoccupied philosophers and theologians for ages, but there was a time, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when scientists and mathematicians felt they could provide the answer. This book is their story. Ivar Ekeland here takes the reader on a journey through scientific attempts to envision the best of all possible worlds. He begins with the French physicist Maupertuis, whose least action principle, Ekeland shows, was a pivotal breakthrough in mathematics, because it was the first expression of the concept of optimization, or the creation of systems that are the most efficient or functional. Tracing the profound impact of optimization and the unexpected ways in which it has influenced the study of mathematics, biology, economics, and even politics, Ekeland reveals how the idea has driven some of our greatest intellectual breakthroughs. The result is a dazzling display of erudition - one that will be essential reading for popular-science buffs and historians of science alike.
法文版只找到djuv格式没法打印出来，买了英文版等了一个多月才到货，盛惠104大洋～书皮拿在手里的感觉就像那本Learn to read Greek，这种纸不知道叫什么专业名称，但真的好舒服～看到第一句就决定去把伽利略的关于两种新科学的对话找来看了。因为这是本月在不同的书里第二次见到引用了～（哈哈哈这本读完居然没有标记！现在想再读一遍找不到放哪儿了
法文版只找到djuv格式没法打印出来，买了英文版等了一个多月才到货，盛惠104大洋～书皮拿在手里的感觉就像那本Learn to read Greek，这种纸不知道叫什么专业名称，但真的好舒服～看到第一句就决定去把伽利略的关于两种新科学的对话找来看了。因为这是本月在不同的书里第二次见到引用了～（哈哈哈这本读完居然没有标记！现在想再读一遍找不到放哪儿了
1 有用 MorningBlue 2012-08-05 00:12:24
前半部偏数学物理学哲学，后半部转向生物学经济学社会学。四星打给前半部。
1 有用 lowai 2019-02-27 16:04:19
著名变分法分析学家写的, 值得一读. 感觉都挺有道理的, 观点非常容易接受...
0 有用 密码有误 2023-12-04 01:11:16 陕西
法文版只找到djuv格式没法打印出来，买了英文版等了一个多月才到货，盛惠104大洋～书皮拿在手里的感觉就像那本Learn to read Greek，这种纸不知道叫什么专业名称，但真的好舒服～看到第一句就决定去把伽利略的关于两种新科学的对话找来看了。因为这是本月在不同的书里第二次见到引用了～（哈哈哈这本读完居然没有标记！现在想再读一遍找不到放哪儿了
0 有用 密码有误 2023-12-04 01:11:16 陕西
法文版只找到djuv格式没法打印出来，买了英文版等了一个多月才到货，盛惠104大洋～书皮拿在手里的感觉就像那本Learn to read Greek，这种纸不知道叫什么专业名称，但真的好舒服～看到第一句就决定去把伽利略的关于两种新科学的对话找来看了。因为这是本月在不同的书里第二次见到引用了～（哈哈哈这本读完居然没有标记！现在想再读一遍找不到放哪儿了
1 有用 lowai 2019-02-27 16:04:19
著名变分法分析学家写的, 值得一读. 感觉都挺有道理的, 观点非常容易接受...
1 有用 MorningBlue 2012-08-05 00:12:24
前半部偏数学物理学哲学，后半部转向生物学经济学社会学。四星打给前半部。