Algebra can be fun

Cover
Titke page
From the Author's Preface to the Third Edition
Chapter I. The Fifth Operation of Mathematics
	The Fifth Operation
	Astronomical Numbers
	How Much does the Earth's Atmosphere Weigh?
	Combustion Without Flames or Heat
	The Changing Weather
	A Combination Lock
	The Superstitious Cyclist
	The Resultsof Repeated Doubling
	Millions of Times Faster
	Ten Thousand Operations per Second
	The Number of All Possible Chess Games
	The Secret of the Chess Machine
	The Biggest Number Using Only Three Twos
	Three Threes
	Three Fours
	Three Identical Digits
	The Biggest Number Using Four Ones
	Four Twos to Make the Biggest Number
Chapter II. The Language of Algebra
	The Art of Setting up Equations
	The Life of Diophantus
	The Horse and the Mule
	Four Brothers
	Two Birds by the Riverside
	Out for a Stroll
	Making Hay
	Cows in the Meadow
	Newton's Problem
	Interchanging the Hands of a Clock
	The Hands of a Clock Come Together
	Guessing Numbers
	Imaginary Nonsense
	The Equation Does the Thinking
	Curios and the Unexpected
	At the "Barber's
	Tramcars and a Pedestrian
	Rafts and a Steamboat
	Two Cans of Coffee
	A Question of Dancing
	Reconnaissance at Sea
	At the Cycle Track
	A Competition of Motocyclists
	Average Speeds
	High-Speed Computing Machines
Chapter III. As an Aid to Arithmetic
	Instantaneous Multiplication
	The Digits 1, 5 and 6
	The Numbers 25 and 76
	Infinite "Numbers"
	Additional Payment
	Divisibility by 11
	A License Number
	Divisibility by 19
	A Theorem of Sophie Germain
	Composite Numbers
	The Number of Primes
	The Largest Prime Discovered So Far
	A Responsible Calculation
	When It's Easier Without Algebra
Chapter IV. Diophantine Equations
	Buying a Sweater
	Auditing Accounts
	Buying Stamps
	Buying Fruit
	Guessing a Birthday
	Selling Chickens
	Two Numbers and Four Operations
	What Kind of Rectangle?
	Two Two-Digit Numbers
	Pythagorean Numbers
	An Indeterminate Equation of the Third Degree
	One Hundred Thousand for the Proof of a Theorem
Chapter V. The Sixth Mathematical Operation
	The Sixth Operation
	Which Is Greater?
	Solve It at a Glance
	Algebraic Comedies
Chapter VI. Second-Degree Equations
	Shaking Hands
	Swarms of Bees
	A Troop of Monkeys
	Farsighted Equations
	Euler's Problem
	Loudspeakers
	The Algebra of a Lunar Voyage
	"A Hard Problem"
	Finding Numbers
Chapter VII. Largest and Smallest Values
	Two Trains
	Planning the Site of a Flag Station
	An Optimal Highway
	When Is the Product a Maximum?
	When Is the Sum a Minimum?
	A Beam of Maximum Volume
	Two Plots of Land
	Making a Kite
	Building a House
	Fencing in a Lot
	A Trough of Maximum Cross Section
	A Funnel of Maximum Capacity
	The Brightest Illumination
Chapter VIII. Progressions
	The Most Ancient Problem Dealing with Progressions
	Algebra on Squared Paper
	Watering the Garden
	Feeding Chickens
	A Team of Diggers
	Apples
	Buying a Horse
	Paying for the Wounds of a Soldier
	Chapter IX. The Seventh Mathematical Operation
		The Seventh Operation
		Rivals of Logarithms
		The Evolution of Logarithmic Tables
		Logarithmic-Table Champions
		Logarithms on the Stage
		Logarithms on a Stock-Raising Farm
		Logarithms in Music
		The Stars, Noise and Logarithms
		Logarithms in Electric Lighting 2ΠMaking out a Will for Hundreds of Years
		Constant Growth of Capital
		The Number e
		A Logarithmic Comedy
		Any Number via Three Twos