My full name is Joseph Conrad Mazur. My mother bought a used copy of Lord Jim in London on her way from Vienna to America, thinking that if she could read it with a dictionary it might improve her English. Like my mother, Conrad was Polish-born, so she felt that English written by a Pole must be easy to understand.





Biography

JOSEPH MAZUR is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at Marlboro College where he has taught a wide range of classes in all areas of mathematics, its history and philosophy. He holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from M.I.T., is a Guggenheim Fellow and has authored many educational software programs, including Explorations in Calculus, the first interactive, multimedia CD package of simulations for calculus. He is the author of Euclid in the Rainforest: Discovering Universal Truth in Mathematics (Finalist of the 2005 PEN/​Martha Albrand Award and chosen as one of Choice's 2005 Outstanding Academic Titles of the Year) and The Motion Paradox: The 2,500-Year Old Puzzle Behind All the Mysteries of Time and Space. His latest book is What's Luck Got To Do With It? a book on the history, mathematics and psychology of gambling.

He is the editor of the recently republished classic by Tobias Dantzig, Number: The Language of Science.

He is currently working on three writing projects:

1. Meaning? The Origins of Modern Icons, Signs and Symbols in Mathematics, Poetry and Life. It will trace the origins and evolution of commonly used symbols in both mathematics and show how such symbols are borrowed from experiences to transfer metaphorical thoughts capable of conveying meaning through similarity, analogy and resemblence.
For more information see New Projects.

2. Zola Takes The A-Train: The Girl Who Thought She Hated Math. For more information see New Projects.

3. The Amazing Light Bulb Change: a memoir containing elements of math discovery influenced by his first nonfiction book, Euclid in the Rainforest: Discovering Universal Truth in Logic and Math. For more information see New Projects.


Selected Works

Nonfiction
Princeton University Press (2010). A book about the nature of gambling, emphasizing the dangers and pitfalls of feeling lucky. It will investigate the hooks of gambling and what makes gamblers feel lucky. Using both mathematics and psychology it will illustrate the misconceptions of luck, explore what it means to have a good chance, and to create an awareness of expected outcomes.
Published by Dutton in April 2007. Now available in bookstores. "THIS is one of the most fascinating science books I have ever read . . . Mazur has succeeded in telling a fresh and untold story with clarity and style." -- The New Scientist
One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles of the Year 2005-- “This book is a treasure of human experience and intellectual excitement.”
--Choice
Editor of the revived classic by Tobias Dantzig, Number: The Language of Science.