Math, Part II
What are the best, funnest books about recreational math? Preferably at the pre-cal or calculus level? Go:
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Mel
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Feb 24, 2017 07:59AM
I liked The Manga Guide to Calculus, which I read way before actually being introduced to calculus...
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Not sure if you want for kids or adults, but for adults, this one is coming out in April. I started reading an ARC of it and it's very practical.The Calculus of Happiness: How a Mathematical Approach to Life Adds Up to Health, Wealth, and Love
Another fine math you've got me into by Ian Stewart!
Ian Stewart has a series whose titles begin with "Professor Stewart's": https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...Martin Gardner's colllections of mathematical puzzles are also delightful: https://www.amazon.com/Martin-Gardner...
Not math, but about mathematics and mathematicians:Hardy's "A Mathematician's Apology" and Ian Stewart's modern variation on the same theme in "Letters to a Young Mathematician"
Math Girls by Hiroshi Yuki -- an entire novel about girls in a high school math club solving equations. Exciting equations!
Finally, three that are currently on my shelf that require some math, but are very well written and accessible to readers with only a little College math. I particularly like them as they offer a nice insight into the beauty of mathematics, and what really "doing math" actually is:Aigner and Ziegler: "Proofs from the Book" is a beautifully done exploration of how mathematical proofs are done, and how they are a creative expression, not merely a technical one. (https://www.amazon.com/Proofs-BOOK-Ma...)
Benjamin, Chartrand and Zang: "The Fascinating world of Graph Theory" is an introduction to a very interesting and important area of advanced mathematics, aimed at the lay reader. (https://www.amazon.com/Fascinating-Wo...)
Ash and Gross: "Summing it Up" is a really neat idea: start with basic addition and then build on its implications, layer by layer, up to current theory and open problems in Number Theory. A great overview of how advanced mathematics progresses from the basic mathematics we all learn. (https://www.amazon.com/Summing-Up-Mod...)
Sorry Joe, can't help you there. Recreational Math is an oxymoron to me!
The one from the chick from wonder years?
Kiss my Math and Hot X, both by Danica McKellar!
William Poundstone's The Recursive Universe is a study of information theory and the game of Life (the one with the stones on the grid that spawn and die by simple rules). By the time he's done you will have a new understanding of how ridiculously, profoundly complex life (the one with cells and photosynthesis and sex) is.He's written other books on mathematical (and math-adjacent) themes, but that's the best.
Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott is a classic everyone should read. Infinity and the Mind and White Light by Rudy Rucker are also both excellent.
The Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero by Robert M. Kaplan and Ellen Kaplan
It's higher level math, IIRC, but Helen DeWitt goes into some lovely maths in The Last Samurai (no relation to anything non-DeWitt fans relate to the title The Last Samurai, least of which Tom Cruise).
Jenni wrote: "Sorry Joe, can't help you there. Recreational Math is an oxymoron to me!"agreed.
Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but my University used a book called, "Mathematical Ideas" published by Pearson and it uses popular culture to teach math. It's really cool. Seriously, the only time I ever received an "A" in a math course.
Tiffany wrote: "Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but my University used a book called, "Mathematical Ideas" published by Pearson and it uses popular culture to teach math. It's really cool. Seriously,..."Hmm! This edition?
https://www.amazon.com/Mathematical-I...
Do I need the access code?
Joe wrote: "Tiffany wrote: "Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but my University used a book called, "Mathematical Ideas" published by Pearson and it uses popular culture to teach math. It's really ..."Mine is the 12th edition, so it has a different cover, but yes, that's it! The access code is only if you want to go online and do all their tests and such. It's definitely not required! I hope you like it!
Proofiness: The Dark Arts of Mathematical Deceptionby Charles Seife (I know.. 3 months later)
