Street-fighting mathematics : the art of educated guessing and opportunistic problem solving /

Street-Fighting Mathematics, by Mahajan (electrical engineering and computer science, MIT), is a book on heuristics and other nonrigorous methods of obtaining solutions or approximate solutions to mathematical and physical problems. Approaches to solving these problems include the use of analogies, geometric reasoning, dimensional analysis, successive approximations, and order of magnitude estimates. The author's goal is clearly to help students develop their intuition and ability to creatively reason about these problems without resorting to the kinds of standardized procedures often taught in calculus courses. The book contains many challenging exercises for students to solve. These exercises and examples are taken primarily from physics and electrical engineering. Students should be comfortable with calculus and physics at the level of introductory courses. Thus, the work would be appropriate as a textbook in courses on problem solving for advanced undergraduate students in engineering and the physical sciences. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. B. Borchers New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology