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A review by tonyzale
Is Math Real?: How Simple Questions Lead Us to Mathematics' Deepest Truths by Eugenia Cheng
4.0
“Is Math Real?” makes the case for the study of abstract math and demystifies it (as much as it can, anyway). It critiques the math education status quo and explicitly argues against the importance of real world applications as part of that process. The author argues for using math as a way to sharpen our intellectual “core muscles”; the point of learning trigonometry or algebra is not just to calculate angles and solve equations, but to build logical frameworks and work inside them. She laments a focus on producing correct answers quickly, at the expense of the open questioning process that is critical for mathematical research. She reinforces this by poking at declared truths, demonstrating situations where 1+1 doesn’t equal 2, or walking through the logic of why 1 is not a prime number. She points out the paradox of how an “obvious” truth often means something that is “so clearly true that I can’t explain it”. She discusses the value of rigorously proving something over merely observing a likely pattern.
The author’s style relies heavily on digressions, making analogies to cooking, social behavior, and cultural forces. She explicitly calls out the gatekeeping of traditional white European male control of academic math, and the way that diminishes other cultures' mathematical traditions. These asides can be jarring; one page you are stepping through a logical derivation and the next you are considering the extent to which medieval African mathematicians were erased from history. I don’t have one single opinion on these. Sometimes I found them interesting, other times distracting. They varied in depth and sometimes felt incomplete.They serve to reinforce the idea that math is not monolithic, but I don’t think they were always effective. They do make the book feel very human.
Math is not concrete, and “Is Math Real?” celebrates this as its great strength. I don’t know that this book will convince many math skeptics, but it may present a new perspective for them.
3.5 stars
The author’s style relies heavily on digressions, making analogies to cooking, social behavior, and cultural forces. She explicitly calls out the gatekeeping of traditional white European male control of academic math, and the way that diminishes other cultures' mathematical traditions. These asides can be jarring; one page you are stepping through a logical derivation and the next you are considering the extent to which medieval African mathematicians were erased from history. I don’t have one single opinion on these. Sometimes I found them interesting, other times distracting. They varied in depth and sometimes felt incomplete.They serve to reinforce the idea that math is not monolithic, but I don’t think they were always effective. They do make the book feel very human.
Math is not concrete, and “Is Math Real?” celebrates this as its great strength. I don’t know that this book will convince many math skeptics, but it may present a new perspective for them.
3.5 stars