Table of Contents

Preface; Introduction; 1. Representing positive numbers as lengths of segments; 2. Representing positive numbers as areas or volumes; 3. Inequalities and the existence of triangles; 4. Using incircles and circumcircles; 5. Using reflections; 6. Using rotations; 7. Employing non-isometric transformations; 8. Employing graphs of functions; 9. Additions topics; Solutions to the challenges; Selected open challenges for visualizing inequalities; Symbols and notation; References; Index.

Promotional Information

Introduces the richness and variety of inequalities in mathematics using illustration and visualisation.

About the Author

Claudi Alsina received his B.A. and Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Barcelona. His post-doctoral studies were at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is Professor of Mathematics at the Technical University of Catalonia and has developed a wide range of international activities, research papers, publications and hundreds of lectures on mathematics and mathematics education. His latest books include Associative Functions: Triangular Norms and Copulas with M. J. Frank and B. Schweizer, WSP, 2006; Math Made Visual. Creating Images for Understanding Mathematics with Roger B. Nelsen, MAA, 2006; Vitaminas Matemáticas and El Club de la Hipotenusa, Ariel, 2008. Roger B. Nelsen received his B.A. in mathematics from DePauw University in 1964 and his Ph.D. in mathematics from Duke University in 1969. Roger was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi. His previous books include Proofs Without Words: Exercises in Visual Thinking, MAA 1993; An Introduction to Copulas, Springer, 1999 (2nd edition 2006); Proofs Without Words II: More Exercises in Visual Thinking, MAA, 2000; and Math Made Visual: Creating Images for Understanding Mathematics (with Claudi Alsina), MAA, 2006.

Reviews

The book will be valuable for secondary and collegiate teachers as a source of inspiration for preparing lessons. It is also recommended for self study to students having adquate knowledge of geometry and a sufficiently rigorous mind."" - Zentralblatt fur Mathematik

""The Dolciani Mathematical Expositions series has once again provided an excellent text in the publication When Less is More: Visualizing Basic Inequalities. Alsina and Nelsen offer readers visual arguments for many historical inequalities, allowing a deeper understanding of those inequalities. Perhaps even more significant than the deeper meaning of these particular inequalities is the fact that the authors present a methodology for producing such visual arguments. Each of the nine chapters features a different approach and concludes with ""challenge"" problems (with solutions) to support the understanding of the chapter's method. The text is highly recommended for instructors as a course supplement and could prove an excellent undergraduate text for a course in inequalities."" - Matthew J. Haines (Minneapolis, MN) Mathematical Reviews