[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-140896-en":3,"doc-seo-140896-105":31,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":28,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":29,"read_time":30},140896,7971461740886,"Theodore","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2",2,"Literature","The Mathematical Coloring Book - Forewords and Introduction","A mathematical coloring book by Alexander Soifer, combining accessible problem statements with deeper historical, philosophical, and moral perspectives. The foreword frames the work as a multi-layer “mystery” that engages readers—especially young mathematicians—with elegant puzzles that require little prior knowledge yet remain difficult to resolve. A key example discusses the plane-coloring question for points at unit distance, noting established bounds and the long-standing uncertainty. The author emphasizes precision, rigorous proof, careful documentation, and use of archival and witness sources to clarify historical records and the lives behind the mathematics.","The Mathematical Coloring Book  \nAlexander Soifer  \nThe Mathematical Coloring Book  \nMathematics of Coloring  \nand the Colorful Life of its Creators  \nForewords by Branko Gr¨unbaum, Peter D. Johnson Jr., and Cecil Rousseau  \n1 3  \nAlexander Soifer  \nCollege of Letters, Arts and Sciences University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Colorado Springs  \nCO 80918, USA [asoifer@uccs.edu](asoifer@uccs.edu)  \nISBN: 978-0-387-74640-1 e-ISBN: 978-0-387-74642-5  \nDOI 10.1007/978-0-387-74642-5  \nLibrary of Congress Control Number: 2008936132  \nMathematics Subject Classiﬁcation (2000): 01Axx 03-XX 05-XX  \n􀀂c Alexander Soifer 2009  \nAll rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden.  \nThe use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identiﬁed as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights.  \nCover illustration: The photographs on the front cover depict, from the upper left clockwise, Paul Erds, Frank P. Ramsey, Bartel L. van der Waerden, and Issai Schur.  \nPrinted on acid-free paper [springer.com](springer.com)  \nThis coloring book is for my late father Yuri Soifer, a great painter, who introduced colors into my life.  \nTo Paint a Bird  \nFirst paint a cage  \nWith wide open door, Then paint something Beautiful and simple, Something very pleasant And much needed For the bird;  \nThen lean the canvas on a tree  \nIn a garden or an orchard or a forest – And hide behind the tree,  \nDo not talk  \nDo not move...  \nSometimes the bird comes quickly But sometimes she needs years to decide Do not give up,  \nWait,  \nWait, if need be, for years, The length of waiting – Be it short or long –  \nDoes not carry any signiﬁcance For the success of your painting When the bird comes – If only she ever comes – Keep deep silence,  \nWait,  \nSo that the bird ﬂies in the cage, And when she is in the cage, Quietly lock the door with the brush, And without touching a single feather Carefully wipe out the cage.  \nThen paint a tree,  \nAnd choose the best branch for the bird Paint green leaves  \nFreshness of the wind and dust of the sun, Paint the noise of animals in the grass  \nIn the heat of summer And wait for the bird to sing If the bird does not sing – This is a bad omen  \nIt means that your picture is of no use, But if she sings –  \nThis is a good sign, A symbol that you can be Proud of and sign, So you very gently  \nPull out one of the feathers of the bird  \nAnd you write your name In a corner of the picture.  \nby Jacques Prvert 1  \n1 [Pre] . Translation by Alexander Soifer and Maurice Stark.  \nForeword  \nThis is a unique type of book; at least, I have never encountered a book of this kind. The best description of it I can give is that it is a mystery novel, developing on three levels, and imbued with both educational and philosophical/moral issues. If this summary description does not help understanding the particular character and allure of the book, possibly a more detailed explanation will be found useful.  \nOne of the primary goals of the author is to interest readers—in particular, young mathematicians or possibly pre-mathematicians—in the fascinating world of elegant and easily understandable problems, for which no particular mathematical knowledge is necessary, but which are very far from being easily solved. In fact, the prototype of such problems is the following: If each point of the plane is to be given a color, how many colors do we need if every two points at unit distance are to receive distinc","cbCailOAqrlxVmQg","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCailOAqrlxVmQg","pdf",20299458,3,1,619,"English","en",105,"# Foreword\n## Readers and educational purpose\n## The coloring problem and long-standing mystery\n## Precision, history, and documented sources\n## Mathematical history and moral considerations","[{\"question\":\"What is the main purpose of the book according to the foreword?\",\"answer\":\"To draw readers, especially young or pre-mathematicians, into an engaging world of elegant, understandable problems whose solutions are far from easy.\"},{\"question\":\"What example problem is used to illustrate the book’s “mystery” theme?\",\"answer\":\"Coloring all points of the plane so that points at unit distance have distinct colors, and determining how many colors are required.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the foreword describe the author’s approach to accuracy and history?\",\"answer\":\"By demanding precision in problem statements and proofs, examining original publications, and documenting claims with specific references, correspondence, witnesses, and archival sources.\"}]","The Mathematical Coloring Book - Forewords and Introduction | PDF",1787645778,953,{"code":4,"msg":32,"data":33},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":34,"title":13,"keywords":35,"description":14,"schema_data":36,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":29},"the-mathematical-coloring-book-forewords-and-introduction","",{"@graph":37,"@context":85},[38,53,68],{"@type":39,"itemListElement":40},"BreadcrumbList",[41,45,48,50],{"item":42,"name":43,"@type":44,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":46,"name":47,"@type":44,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":44,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":44,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-mathematical-coloring-book-forewords-and-introduction/140896/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":42,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-03","2026-08-25",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What is the main purpose of the book according to the foreword?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"To draw readers, especially young or pre-mathematicians, into an engaging world of elegant, understandable problems whose solutions are far from easy.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"What example problem is used to illustrate the book’s “mystery” theme?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"Coloring all points of the plane so that points at unit distance have distinct colors, and determining how many colors are required.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"How does the foreword describe the author’s approach to accuracy and history?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"By demanding precision in problem statements and proofs, examining original publications, and documenting claims with specific references, correspondence, witnesses, and archival sources.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":87,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":89,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":92},[93,97,100,104,109,114,119,124,129,132,136],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":94,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":120,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":122,"slug":123},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":126,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":128},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":130,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":131},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":133,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":134,"show_sort_weight":133,"slug":135},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":137,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":138,"show_sort_weight":105,"slug":139},19,"General","general"]