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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
You mention maths to people and they either think Mental Abuse To Humans or run screaming from the room. But we are surrounded by numbers, they are in the things that we read, play a key role in everything we do online and the wonders of a simple cone.
In this book Bellos draws out the stories behind the numbers. We learn how simple triangulation allows us to move around the country with maps and sat nav. How exponential growth is the key number behind You Tube sensations and Catalan architecture. We meet those playing the game of life are beginning to understand the deepest complexities of life from a simple computer programme and how a simple mathematical law can catch the financial crook, and we discover just what peoples favourite number are.
It is a reasonably accessible book too, even for those that normal turn a paler shade when the word maths is mentioned. He does drift of into the delights of calculus in one chapter, but all of the others are well explained, understandable, and may even make you smile every now and again.
In this book Bellos draws out the stories behind the numbers. We learn how simple triangulation allows us to move around the country with maps and sat nav. How exponential growth is the key number behind You Tube sensations and Catalan architecture. We meet those playing the game of life are beginning to understand the deepest complexities of life from a simple computer programme and how a simple mathematical law can catch the financial crook, and we discover just what peoples favourite number are.
It is a reasonably accessible book too, even for those that normal turn a paler shade when the word maths is mentioned. He does drift of into the delights of calculus in one chapter, but all of the others are well explained, understandable, and may even make you smile every now and again.
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
Very good good book on the introduction to maths. If I read this book in school I probably will develop more interest in maths.
Too misogynistic. I'm sure the history section at the beginning is accurate, but the author seems to agree that women are weak and inferior. It's not fun to read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny
A review of the math vaguely recalled, often with a new, and I’m going to say a more mature understanding.
Then add in the myriad advancements discoveries and applications of math since my school days and package that with adroit explanations, helpful illustrations and a bit of wacky humor, and we have a wonderful book about a subject that I now believe we should revisit now and again. Outstanding! I now have a new GR bookshelf: “Math.”
Then add in the myriad advancements discoveries and applications of math since my school days and package that with adroit explanations, helpful illustrations and a bit of wacky humor, and we have a wonderful book about a subject that I now believe we should revisit now and again. Outstanding! I now have a new GR bookshelf: “Math.”
As a math teacher, I really loved this book and recommend it to anyone else with a love of math and numbers. The author does a great job of balancing a narrative of the history of mathematics/mathematicians with the actual math and proofs behind it all.
I definitely had to dust off a few concepts I hadn't thought about since high school, but I now have a better understanding of their importance and role in our lives.
If you don't like math, this probably isn't the book for you. But you could probably tell that from the title.
I definitely had to dust off a few concepts I hadn't thought about since high school, but I now have a better understanding of their importance and role in our lives.
If you don't like math, this probably isn't the book for you. But you could probably tell that from the title.
I thought this book was very enjoyable, but I think you have to be somewhat of a math nerd to find it entertaining. I think it does a reasonable job of explaining the mathematical concepts, though, so you don't have to be a math genius...just have to enjoy numbers.
Each chapter is devoted to a different mathematical concept, and it details the history of its discovery and use, relating it as much as possible to real world applications. I think the most interesting chapters are definitely right up front, showing why numbers are important and how scaling and power laws both arise and can be used to address a diversity of problems.
The only chapter I didn't really enjoy was one on the Game of Life - compared to everything else in the book, it is a very esoteric concept, and its usefulness is at best tangential. And unfortunately, it's the last chapter, so the book sort of ended with a whimper for me.
I do like that he provided appendices on some more elaborate discussions for the more hardcore. Those are fun asides if you want to get more into the nitty-gritty, though you will have seen some of them before, in all likelihood.
Anyway, if you enjoy numbers and want to learn more about how they are awesome, this is a fun, quick read that might give you a greater appreciation for mathematics and its history, so I recommend it.
Each chapter is devoted to a different mathematical concept, and it details the history of its discovery and use, relating it as much as possible to real world applications. I think the most interesting chapters are definitely right up front, showing why numbers are important and how scaling and power laws both arise and can be used to address a diversity of problems.
The only chapter I didn't really enjoy was one on the Game of Life - compared to everything else in the book, it is a very esoteric concept, and its usefulness is at best tangential. And unfortunately, it's the last chapter, so the book sort of ended with a whimper for me.
I do like that he provided appendices on some more elaborate discussions for the more hardcore. Those are fun asides if you want to get more into the nitty-gritty, though you will have seen some of them before, in all likelihood.
Anyway, if you enjoy numbers and want to learn more about how they are awesome, this is a fun, quick read that might give you a greater appreciation for mathematics and its history, so I recommend it.
This book feels like it's mostly for math geeks. Bellos had me only in bits and pieces. He reminded me of why I stopped figuring when I got to high school calculus. Too many formulas! (And maybe too many bad math teachers). I did like the history (when I could understand it). The pursuit of e and pi had me happily thinking about infinity, exponential growth, and exponential decay. And I am finally understanding why I like 7 so much.
I am always looking for books to give to students who say that they hate math. This is witty, grounded in common examples from everyday life, and explained by a master who clearly loves his subject and teaching. Bonus points for weaving in a global history of math, with examples and cultural gems (like the Indian poem by Brahmagupta introducing zero).
Interesting mathematics including, rule of 72 and secretary problem.