How To Derive A Formula - Volume 2: Further Analytical Skills And Methods For Physical Scientists (Paperback)

Will artificial intelligence solve all problems, making scientific formulae redundant? The authors of this book would argue that there is still a vital role in formulating them to make sense of the laws of nature. To derive a formula one needs to follow a series of steps; last of all, check that the result is correct, primarily through the analysis of limiting cases. The book is about unravelling this machinery.Mathematics is the 'queen of all sciences', but students encounter many obstacles in learning the subject — familiarization with the proofs of hundreds of theorems, mysterious symbols, and technical routines for which the usefulness is not obvious upfront. Those interested in the physical sciences could lose motivation, not seeing the wood for the trees.This two-volume book How to Derive a Formula is an attempt to engage these learners, presenting mathematical methods in as simple as possible terms, with more of an emphasis on skills as opposed to technical knowledge. Based on intuition and common sense rather than mathematical rigor, it teaches students from scratch using pertinent examples, many taken across the physical sciences to demonstrate the application of the taught methods.This book provides an interesting new perspective of what a mathematics textbook could be, including historical facts and humour to complement the material. The metaphor adopted in both volumes is an ascent to Everest; from the Base Camp to Camp 1, from Camp 1 to Camp 2 (Volume 1); from Camp 2 to Camp 3, from Camp 3 to Camp 4 (Volume 2). Volume 1 was about the necessary basics. Volume 2 proceeds to more advanced and challenging methods for deriving formulae. Inevitably, the formalism of these methods is more involved and challenging for the readers, than in Volume 1. Whereas the approach of Volume 1 is upheld in Volume 2, the latter cannot be expected to be the same 'easy reading'.