Books with author Ian Stewart

FIRST IN A NEW SERIES!Hamelin, Vermont, isn’t the most likely place for bagpipes and tartan, but at Peggy Winn’s ScotShop, business is booming…While on a transatlantic hunt for some authentic wares to sell at her shop, Peggy is looking to forget her troubles by digging through the hidden treasures of the Scottish Highlands. With so many enchanting items on sale, Peggy can’t resist buying a beautiful old tartan shawl. But once she wraps it around her shoulders, she discovers that her purchase comes with a hidden fee: the specter of a fourteenth-century Scotsman.Unsure if her Highland fling was real or a product of an overactive imagination, Peggy returns home to Vermont—only to find the dead body of her ex-boyfriend on the floor of her shop. When the police chief arrests Peggy’s cousin based on some incriminating evidence, Peggy decides to ask her haunting Scottish companion to help figure out who really committed the crime—before anyone else gets kilt…

The stripes of a zebra...the complexities of a spider's web...the waves of the ocean...and the shape of a snowflake. These and other natural patterns have been recognized by scientists for centuries. What do they have in common? They can all be accounted for mathematically.In What Shape is a Snowflake? internationally acclaimed mathematician Ian Stewart shows how life on earth develops not simply from genetic processes, but also from the principles of mathematics. Starting with the simplest symmetrical patterns, each chapter looks at a different kind of patterning system and the key scientific issues that underlie it. Patterns can embrace chaos, fractals, dislocations, even statistical regularities, and are found in many things that at first seem irregular or featurless. A constant wind blowing over a flat expanse of sand, for example will develop ripples, which eventually lead to sand dunes that are often arranged in long parallel rows or other geometric forms. And the smooth surface of a growing organism will develop beautiful patterns, of spots, stripes and colors.Beautifully illustrated, What Shape is a Snowflake? is an illuminating and engaging vision of how the apparently cold laws of mathematics find organic expression in the beauty of nature.

This edition concentrates on the Reading Test with exercises reflecting all of the new SAT question types: reading comprehension; understanding words used in context; and graphical analysis. Exercises are divided according to three levels of increasing difficulty and labeled from A to C. The book features a helpful diagnostic test and 3 full-length Reading practice tests. All questions are answered and explained. Students who can answer all level C questions are ready to excel on the actual exam. The workbook also presents test-taking tips and vocabulary review.

FIRST IN A NEW SERIES!Hamelin, Vermont, isn’t the most likely place for bagpipes and tartan, but at Peggy Winn’s ScotShop, business is booming…While on a transatlantic hunt for some authentic wares to sell at her shop, Peggy is looking to forget her troubles by digging through the hidden treasures of the Scottish Highlands. With so many enchanting items on sale, Peggy can’t resist buying a beautiful old tartan shawl. But once she wraps it around her shoulders, she discovers that her purchase comes with a hidden fee: the specter of a fourteenth-century Scotsman.Unsure if her Highland fling was real or a product of an overactive imagination, Peggy returns home to Vermont—only to find the dead body of her ex-boyfriend on the floor of her shop. When the police chief arrests Peggy’s cousin based on some incriminating evidence, Peggy decides to ask her haunting Scottish companion to help figure out who really committed the crime—before anyone else gets kilt…

Tyler Hartmann had made mistakes, but today was the worst so far. The ship he was on with his mom had been caught in a storm and slammed against some rocks. Soaked by the pouring rain and confused by the darkness, Tyler and the other children had jumped into a lifeboat. It was what they’d been taught by the captain their first day on the ship. But the adults had all gotten on a separate lifeboat. When the two crafts hit the water and were battered by the waves, there had been no way to keep them together. We are on our own. Just Us Kids

Think of the stripes of a zebra and the complexities of a spider’s web. Think of a snowflake These are natural patterns that have been recognized for centuries, and they can all be accounted for mathematically. In this enlightening book, Ian Stewart shows how life on Earth develops not simply from the outworkings of genetic processes, but also from the principles of mathematics. The result is a visually compelling guide to the links between mathematics and the natural world – a beautiful journey through the fields of science, mathematics, history and art.

Enter the magical maze of mathematics and explore the surprising passageways of a fantastical world where logic and imagination converge. For mathematics is a maze—a maze in your head—a maze of ideas, a maze of logic. And that maze in your mind is a powerful tool for understanding an even bigger maze—the one of cause and effect that we call "the universe." That is its special kind of magic. Real magic. Strange magic. Infinitely fascinating magic. Acclaimed author Ian Stewart leads you swiftly and humorously through the junctions, byways, and secret passages of the magical maze to reveal its beauty, surprise, and power. Along the way, he reveals the infinite possibilities that arise from what he calls "the two-way trade between the natural world and the human mind." If you’ve always loved mathematics, you will find endless delights in the twists and turns of The Magical Maze. If you’ve always hated mathematics, a trip through this marvelous book will do much to change your mind.

Barron’s ACT Premium Study Guide with 6 Practice Tests provides online practice, customizable study plans, and expert advice from experienced teachers who know the test. Step-by-step review helps you master the content, and full-length practice tests in the book and online provide realistic test experience so you’re prepared for the exam.This edition includes:Three full-length practice tests in the bookTwo full-length online practice testsOne full-length diagnostic test in the book with guidance on how to use your results to determine the subjects you need to study moreEasy, medium, and hard practice passages that enable you to customize your studyStudy plan recommendations based on the amount of time you have to prepareExtensive subject reviews that cover all parts of the ACT: English, math, reading, science, and the writing testDetailed overview of the ACT with comprehensive answers to frequently asked questionsAdvice on optimizing the test-taking mindset and managing test anxietyProven test-taking strategies for students of all ability levels

Abigail Tripp dreams of adventures. Losing herself in the pages of books about far off places is the closest she’s ever gotten. That is until a birthday gift from her grandparents includes tickets to Alaska. She’s planned every detail and read every book she could to get ready for the journey. But would she be prepared for a real adventure? Lost in the wilderness with just other kids, her skills will be put to the test.Just Us KidsBook 1: ShipwreckedBook 2: Frozen

""Welcome to the maze. A logical maze, a magical maze. A maze of the mind. The maze is mathematics. The mind is yours. Let's see what happens when we put them together. What is mathematics? What do mathematicians do? What is a mathematician? Someone who does mathematics? Not exactly. That's too easy an answer, and it creates too simple a maze—a circular loop of self-referential logic. No, a mathematician is more than just somebody who does mathematics. Think of it this way: what is a businessperson? Someone who does business? Yes, but not just that. A businessperson is someone who sees an opportunity for doing business where the rest of us see nothing; while we're complaining that there's no restaurant in the area, he or she is organizing a telephone pizza delivery service. Similarly, a mathematician is someone who sees opportunities for doing mathematics that the rest of us miss. I want to open your mind to some of these opportunities.""—from The Magical Maze Praise for Ian Stewart's Previous Books About Nature's Numbers: ""Stewart achieves what other popular mathematics writers merely strive for: an accurate, informative portrayal of contemporary mathematics without a single equation in sight.""—Nature About The Problems of Mathematics: ""From one of mathematics' most gifted expositors . . . challenging and interesting. Those with no knowledge of the subject will be able to glimpse its beauty and appeal.""—New Scientist About The Collapse of Chaos: ""This ambitious book fearlessly asks some big questions, challenging us to look at science a new way.""—San Francisco Chronicle About Another Fine Math You've Got Me Into: ""Ian Stewart's quirky humor and imaginative storytelling entice readers into a fascinating world of mathematical curiosities.""—Ivars Peterson author of The Jungles of Randomness Enter the magical maze of mathematics and explore the surprising passageways of a fantastical world where logic and imagination converge. For mathematics is a maze—a maze in your head—a maze of ideas, a maze of logic. And that maze in your mind is a powerful tool for understanding an even bigger maze—the maze of cause and effect that we call ""the universe."" That is its special kind of magic. Real magic. Strange magic. Infinitely fascinating magic. In this adventure of a book, acclaimed author Ian Stewart leads you swiftly and humorously through the junctions, byways, and secret passages of the magical maze to reveal its beauty, its surprise, and its power. Along the way, he reveals the infinite possibilities that arise from what he calls ""the two-way trade between the natural world and the human mind."" On your travels you will encounter number magic—both the stage-act variety and the deeper magic of animals, plants, and the physical world. You will come to understand the amazing pattern-forming abilities of the humble slime mold, the numerology of flowers, and the feeding habits of pigs and panthers. You will discover how to solve puzzles the algorithmic way, the artistic way, and the army way. You will be amazed by the deep connections between the founding of Carthage, soap bubbles, and communications networks. You will discover how to use a toy train set as a computer, and find out why this implies that there are unavoidable limits to mathematics. You will join the controversy over cars and goats, find out the terrible truth about confessions, and win endless bets about birthdays. You will see how a new idea about ferns can lead to a multi-million-dollar computer graphics company, and how Jupiter and Mars can combine forces to hurl cosmic rocks at Earth. And you will never again be able to watch a kitten, a kangaroo, or a Chihuahua without noticing the delightfully rhythmic patterns with which they move their feet. If you've always loved mathematics, you will find endless delights in the twists and turns of The Magical Maze. If you've always hated mathematics, a trip through this marvelous book will do much to change your mind.

This is a wonderful collection of animation scripts. Many of the films such as Jake, Shipwrecked, Two Pennies, Exodus to Egypt have already been filmed. Learn firsthand how to combine songwriting lyrics with dramatic content to move the story forward. This is a nice size collection and will surely give you ideas as you write your first animated scripts.