Ian Stewart (1) (1945–)

Author of The Science of Discworld

For other authors named Ian Stewart, see the disambiguation page.

85+ Works 18,436 Members 198 Reviews 13 Favorited

About the Author

Ian Stewart is a professor emeritus of mathematics at the University of Warwick. The author of numerous books on math, he has written for New Scientist, Discover, and Scientific American, among other publications in the United Kingdom and the United States. He lives in Coventry, England.

Image credit: Taken by Stewart's wife, Avril Stewart.

Series

Cabinet of Curiosities

Lifesoul Cherisher

Shiva's Friendly Micro series

The Science of Discworld

Works by Ian Stewart

Popular Recent

The Science of Discworld (2002) 2,713 copies

The Science of Discworld II: The Globe (2002) 1,907 copies

The Science of Discworld III : Darwin's Watch (2005) 1,640 copies

Flatterland (2001) 1,051 copies

Nature's Numbers (1996) 859 copies

Does God Play Dice? The New Mathematics of Chaos (1989) 852 copies

Professor Stewart's Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities (2008) 670 copies

In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World (2012) 581 copies

The Science of Discworld IV : Judgement Day (2013) 546 copies

The Collapse of Chaos: Discovering Simplicity in a Complex World (1994) 525 copies

Concepts of Modern Mathematics (1975) 489 copies

Taming the Infinite: The Story of Mathematics (2008) 446 copies

Letters to a Young Mathematician (2006) — Author — 432 copies

Why Beauty Is Truth: A History of Symmetry (2007) 416 copies

The Problems of Mathematics (1987) 396 copies

1000 Play Thinks: Puzzles, Paradoxes, Illusions & Games (2001) 395 copies

The Magical Maze: Seeing the World Through Mathematical Eyes (1997) 308 copies

Professor Stewart's Hoard of Mathematical Treasures (2009) 298 copies

The Mathematics of Life (2011) 271 copies

Wheelers (2000) 260 copies

Visions of Infinity: The Great Mathematical Problems (2013) 241 copies

Fearful Symmetry: Is God a Geometer? (1992) 222 copies

Game, Set and Math: Enigmas and Conundrums (1989) 222 copies

Figments of Reality: The Evolution of the Curious Mind (1997) 215 copies

Math Hysteria: Fun and Games with Mathematics (2004) 185 copies

Life's Other Secret: The New Mathematics of the Living World (1999) 184 copies

Galois Theory (1973) 159 copies

How to Cut a Cake: And Other Mathematical Conundrums (2006) 159 copies

What Does a Martian Look Like? The Science of Extraterrestrial Life (2002) 150 copies

Calculating the Cosmos: How Mathematics Unveils the Universe (2016) 149 copies

Heaven (2004) 135 copies

Significant Figures: The Lives and Work of Great Mathematicians (2017) 130 copies

Professor Stewart's Incredible Numbers (2015) 123 copies

Another Fine Math You'Ve Got Me Into... (1992) 115 copies

Professor Stewart's Casebook of Mathematical Mysteries (2014) 110 copies

What Shape is a Snowflake? (2001) 103 copies

The Foundations of Mathematics (1977) 93 copies

Cows in the Maze: And Other Mathematical Explorations (2010) 88 copies

Do Dice Play God?: The Mathematics of Uncertainty (2019) 83 copies

Algebraic Number Theory and Fermat's Last Theorem (1979) 73 copies

Infinity: A Very Short Introduction (2017) 67 copies

Catastrophe Theory and Its Applications (1978) 64 copies

Symmetry: A Very Short Introduction (2013) 60 copies

Complex Analysis (1983) 55 copies

What's the Use?: How Mathematics Shapes Everyday Life (2021) 37 copies

The Beauty of Numbers in Nature: Mathematical Patterns and Principles from the Natural World (The MIT Press) (2017) 31 copies

The Mayor of Uglyville's Dilemma: And Other Mathematical Puzzles and Enigmas (2005) 24 copies

Incriveis Passatempos Matematicos - Professor Stew (Em Portugues do Brasil) (2010) 21 copies

Mania de Matematica 2: Novos Enigmas e Desafios Ma (Em Portugues do Brasil) (2009) 8 copies

Sinclair ZX Spectrum: Programmieren leicht gemacht (1982) 7 copies

Spectrum Machine Code (1983) 6 copies

Pentagonien, Andromeda und die gekämmte Kugel: 50 mathematische Kurzgeschichten (2004) 5 copies

Loophole (2023) 5 copies

Further Programming for the ZX Spectrum (1983) 5 copies

ZX Spielkiste: SPIELE UND RÄTSEL MIT dem ZX81 oder ZX Spectrum (1982) 4 copies

Visions géométriques (1994) 4 copies

Machine Code and Better Basic (1982) 3 copies

Gateway to computing : with the BBC Micro (1984) 2 copies

Ashes 2 copies

Easy Programming for the Commodore 64 (1983) 2 copies

SINCLAIR ZX 81. Programme, Spiele, Graphik (1983) 2 copies

Los grandes problemas matem�ticos (2014) 2 copies

Oh, catastrophe (2000) 2 copies

Gateway to computing with the Commodore 64 (1987) 2 copies

Histerie matematyczne (2007) 2 copies

ORACLE 1 copy

School Mathematics 2 (1983) 1 copy

The magical maze : a study guide to the Royal Institution of Great Britain Christmas Lectures 1997 (1997) 1 copy

'Life on a string' in AFR, 19 Sept 2003 1 copy

Seven Years of Manifold: 1968-80 (1981) 1 copy

Curlew's Choice {novelette} 1 copy

Play It Again, Psam 1 copy

Les Chroniques de Rose Polymath (Russiasn Edition) / Tainy katastrofy (per. s frantsuzskogo) / Тайны… (1987) 1 copy

Das verschwundene Paradies [Kurzgeschichte] (1981) 1 copy

Commodore 64 Machine Code (1984) 1 copy

Further programming for the Dragon 32 (1983) 1 copy

Petites énigmes mathématiques et logiques 1 copy

Les divagations mathématiques de Ian Stewart (2011) 1 copy

Gateway to computing with the ZX Spectrum. Bk.2 (1984) 1 copy

Easy programming for the Dragon 32 (1983) 1 copy

Rock Star (Syntei) (Volume 2) (2017) 1 copy

The Living Labyrinth (2016) 1 copy

Peek, Poke, Byte, Ram: BASIC Programming for the Z. X. 81 (1982) 1 copy

Gateway to Computing: Spectrum Bk. 1 (1984) 1 copy

Does Chaos Rule the Cosmos? 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

Seeing Further: The Story of Science, Discovery, and the Genius of the Royal Society (2010) — Contributor — 1,029 copies

What Is Mathematics? An Elementary Approach to Ideas and Methods (1941) — Author, some editions — 929 copies

The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing (2008) — Contributor — 803 copies

The Annotated Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (1884) — Editor — 531 copies

The Next Fifty Years: Science in the First Half of the Twenty-first Century (2002) — Contributor — 386 copies

Futures from Nature (2007) — Contributor — 113 copies

The Sixth Omni Book of Science Fiction (1989) — Contributor — 49 copies

Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact: Vol. XCVIII, No. 6 (June 1978) (1978) — Contributor — 26 copies

Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact: Vol. XCIX, No. 6 (June 1979) (1979) — Contributor — 23 copies

Analog Science Fiction and Fact: Vol. CXIV, No. 1 & 2 (January 1994) (1994) — Author — 16 copies

Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact: Vol. CX, No. 11 (October 1990) (1990) 16 copies

Analog 3 (1982) — some editions — 7 copies

Nature Futures 2: Science Fiction from the Leading Science Journal (2013) — Contributor — 7 copies

New Scientist, 4 November 1989 (1989) — Contributor — 1 copy

New Scientist, 20 November 1975 (1975) — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

anthology (85) biology (146) chaos (89) chaos theory (72) complexity (74) cosmology (48) Discworld (976) ebook (98) essays (75) evolution (144) fantasy (978) fiction (644) games (47) geometry (92) hardcover (68) history (255) history of science (120) humor (386) math (2,716) non-fiction (1,059) own (63) paperback (48) philosophy (118) physics (197) popular mathematics (65) popular science (350) puzzles (105) read (129) recreational mathematics (58) satire (58) science (1,933) science fiction (337) sf (87) sff (66) symmetry (54) Terry Pratchett (195) to-read (1,038) unread (135) wishlist (61) wizards (60)

Common Knowledge

Legal name: Stewart, Ian Nicholas
Birthdate: 1945-09-24
Gender: male
Nationality: UK
Birthplace: Folkestone, Kent, England, UK
Education: University of Cambridge (Churchill College)
Occupations: professor
mathematician
Organizations: University of Warwick
Awards and honors: Michael Faraday Prize (1995)
Fellow of the Royal Society (2001)
Christopher Zeeman Medal (2008)
Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science (2015)

Members

Reviews

The Mathematics of Life by Ian Stewart

Meh. Not one of his best efforts. I found it pretty boring, and I expected more drawings, diagrams, pictures, etc. to accompany the text. It has the feel of a much older book, though it was published in 2010.

Flagged

tgraettinger | 7 other reviews | Mar 22, 2024 |

Seventeen Equations That Changed World by Ian Stewart

A bit simple but pleasant book, which could have dug a lot deeper to give insight but still worth an airplane read.

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yates9 | 10 other reviews | Feb 28, 2024 |

The Science Of Discworld by Terry Pratchett

An interesting idea and, after I got used to the odd flow of the Narrativium, it was one that worked well. Thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to the sequels.

Flagged

CraigGoodwin | 25 other reviews | Jan 27, 2024 |

The Science of Discworld II: The Globe by Terry Pratchett; Ian Stewart; Jack Cohen

The "science of" chapters are filled with anti-semitism and other concerning opinions about oppressed peoples. Which was very disappointing, because the story chapters were entertaining.
Won't be reading another Pratchett book.

Flagged

EmberMantles | 14 other reviews | Jan 1, 2024 |

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