David J. Morin

This book is a collection of 57 very challenging math problems with detailed solutions. It is written for anyone who enjoys pondering difficult problems for great lengths of time. The problems are mostly classics that have been around for ages. They are divided into four categories: General, Geometry, Probability, and Foundational, with the Probability section constituting roughly half the book. Many of the solutions contain extensions/variations of the given problems. In addition to the full solution, each problem comes with a hint. For the most part, algebra is the only formal prerequisite, although a few problems require calculus.Are you eager to tackle the Birthday Problem, Simpson's Paradox, the Game-Show Problem, the Boy/Girl Problem, the Hotel Problem, and of course the Green-Eyed Dragons? If so, this book is for you You are encouraged to peruse the problems via either the Look Inside feature on Amazon, or the author's Harvard webpage (where all of the problems are posted), to gauge whether the level of difficulty is right for you.

This book is written for high school and college students learning about special relativity for the first time. It will appeal to the reader who has a healthy level of enthusiasm for understanding how and why the various results of special relativity come about.All of the standard introductory topics in special relativity are covered: historical motivation, loss of simultaneity, time dilation, length contraction, velocity addition, Lorentz transformations, Minkowski diagrams, causality, Doppler effect, energy/momentum, collisions/decays, force, and 4-vectors. Additionally, the last chapter provides a brief introduction to the basic ideas of general relativity, including the equivalence principle, gravitational time dilation, and accelerating reference frames. The book features more than 100 worked-out problems in the form of examples in the text and solved problems at the end of each chapter. These problems, along with the discussions in the text, will be a valuable resource in any course on special relativity. The numerous examples also make this book ideal for self-study.Very little physics background is assumed (essentially none in the first half of the book). An intriguing aspect of special relativity is that it is challenging due to its inherent strangeness, as opposed to a heavy set of physics prerequisites. Likewise for the math prerequisite: calculus is used on a few occasions, but it is not essential to the overall flow of the book.

This book is written for high school and college students learning about probability for the first time. It will appeal to the reader who has a healthy level of enthusiasm for understanding how and why the various results of probability come about. All of the standard introductory topics in probability are covered: combinatorics, the rules of probability, Bayes' theorem, expectation value, variance, probability density, common distributions, the law of large numbers, the central limit theorem, correlation, and regression. Calculus is not a prerequisite, although a few of the problems do involve calculus. These are marked clearly.The book features 150 worked-out problems in the form of examples in the text and solved problems at the end of each chapter. These problems, along with the discussions in the text, will be a valuable resource in any introductory probability course, either as the main text or as a helpful supplement.

This problem book is ideal for high-school and college students in search of practice problems with detailed solutions. All of the standard introductory topics in mechanics are covered: kinematics, Newton's laws, energy, momentum, angular momentum, oscillations, gravity, and fictitious forces.The introduction to each chapter provides an overview of the relevant concepts. Students can then warm up with a series of multiple-choice questions before diving into the free-response problems which constitute the bulk of the book. The first few problems in each chapter are derivations of key results/theorems that are useful when solving other problems.While the book is calculus-based, it can also easily be used in algebra-based courses. The problems that require calculus (only a sixth of the total number) are listed in an appendix, allowing students to steer clear of those if they wish.Additional details: (1) Features 150 multiple-choice questions and nearly 250 free-response problems, all with detailed solutions. (2) Includes 350 figures to help students visualize important concepts. (3) Builds on solutions by frequently including extensions/variations and additional remarks. (4) Begins with a chapter devoted to problem-solving strategies in physics. (5) A valuable supplement to the assigned textbook in any introductory mechanics course.

For 50 years, Edward M. Purcell's classic textbook has introduced students to the world of electricity and magnetism. The third edition has been brought up to date and is now in SI units. It features hundreds of new examples, problems, and figures, and contains discussions of real-life applications. The textbook covers all the standard introductory topics, such as electrostatics, magnetism, circuits, electromagnetic waves, and electric and magnetic fields in matter. Taking a nontraditional approach, magnetism is derived as a relativistic effect. Mathematical concepts are introduced in parallel with the physics topics at hand, making the motivations clear. Macroscopic phenomena are derived rigorously from the underlying microscopic physics. With worked examples, hundreds of illustrations, and nearly 600 end-of-chapter problems and exercises, this textbook is ideal for electricity and magnetism courses. Solutions to the exercises are available for instructors at www.cambridge.org/Purcell-Morin.