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A review by cookedw
The Grapes of Math: How Life Reflects Numbers and Numbers Reflect Life by Alex Bellos
4.0
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.