Book dossier

Strange phenomena in convex and discrete geometry

by Chuanming Zong

Convex and discrete geometry is one of the most intuitive subjects in mathematics. One can explain many of its problems, even the most difficult - such as the sphere-packing problem (what is the densest possible arrangement of spheres in an n-dimensional space?) and the Borsuk problem (is it possible to partition any bounded set in an n-dimensional space into n+1 subsets, each of which is strictly smaller in "extent" than the full set?) - in terms that a layman can understand; and one can reasonably make conjectures about their solutions with little training in mathematics.