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A review by noel_b
Is Math Real?: How Simple Questions Lead Us to Mathematics' Deepest Truths by Eugenia Cheng
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
5.0
This book was simultaneously a soothing balm for my "bad at math" soul and a fire for my "curious about the world" brain. It made me more interested and more excited about math, not by making it sound "less difficult" but by changing my perspective on why we find it difficult in the first place.
It also explained in very accessible terms all those dumbass questions that would get teachers to shut me down and made me feel stupid. Why is 1+2 the same as 2+1, why can't you divide by zero, why even bother with any of this in the first place?
The experience of reading this book is Dr. Cheng sitting next to you with a notebook and saying "those are not dumbass questions, you are right to ask them and here's how it works and why."
It also explained in very accessible terms all those dumbass questions that would get teachers to shut me down and made me feel stupid. Why is 1+2 the same as 2+1, why can't you divide by zero, why even bother with any of this in the first place?
The experience of reading this book is Dr. Cheng sitting next to you with a notebook and saying "those are not dumbass questions, you are right to ask them and here's how it works and why."