The Cartoon Guide to Geometry: An Illustrated and Comprehensive Mathematical Primer on Geometry

The Cartoon Guides

by Larry Gonick

What’s so funny about a trapezoid? Plus, what is a trapezoid? Cartoonist Larry Gonick unlocks the formula to understanding geometry in the latest entry in his New York Times bestselling Cartoon Guide series. For years, Larry Gonick’s Cartoon Guide series has helped struggling high school and college students thrive in the most challenging courses. His books on algebra, calculus, physics, history, and many other subjects have sold millions of copies across the globe. Now Gonick turns his attention to the last big mathematical subject he has not yet geometry.     Moving from the most basic precepts of geometry—planes, lines, and points—to elaborate proofs, The Cartoon Guide to Geometry is a comprehensive primer on all the essential ideas of the angles, triangles, area, similarity, and yes, the Pythagorean theorem. As with Gonick’s other books, the material is carefully tailored to the curriculum standards and standardized testing guidelines of the subject, ensuring that students emerge from The Cartoon Guide to Geometry with a deep grasp of the key ideas. And Gonick’s lively storytelling, wit, and beautiful art ensure that students will stay engaged with the material, as complex concepts are made clear.

Genres: Mathematics, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 16, 2024

About the author

Larry Gonick (born 1946) is a cartoonist best known for The Cartoon History of the Universe, a history of the world in comic book form, which he has been publishing in installments since 1977. He has also written The Cartoon History of the United States, and he has adapted the format for a series of co-written guidebooks on other subjects, beginning with The Cartoon Guide to Genetics in 1983. The diversity of his interests, and the success with which his books have met, have together earned Gonick the distinction of being "the most well-known and respected of cartoonists who have applied their craft to unravelling the mysteries of science" (Drug Discovery Today, March 2005).

Reviews

[Riley White · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very delightful introduction to Euclidean geometry. It also touches a bit on some of the history, which I always appreciate; I would have liked a bit more of this, but I imagine that it was difficult to fit too much of it in. The cartoon aspect sometimes seems to not add much to the material but there were some quite good jokes as well. There are a few places in which the author humorously alludes to a more advanced concept which is being skimmed over, although I'm not sure if it would be frustrating to one with less familiarity for these to be left unresolved. I would say that the difficulty level of the book is fairly low, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning about elementary geometry.

Unfortunately quite a few errors are present in the book, which, although minor, made the comment about "pesky proofreaders" in the acknowledgments feel a bit awkward. I kept a record of the errors which I caught, which I shall enumerate here for the benefit of anyone who may have been confused by them. I do not claim that this list is exhaustive, but I did my best to catch as many as I could.

- On page 235 it is claimed that the regular 9-, 11-, and 15-gons are impossible to construct with compass and straightedge. While the regular 9- and 11-gons are not constructible, the regular 15-gon is, 15 being the product of the distinct Fermat primes 3 and 5. In fact, Euclid inscribes a regular 15-gon in a circle as proposition 16 of book IV of the Elements. His method is rather pleasing, involving inscribing in a circle a regular pentagon and an equilateral triangle which share a vertex, and would have made a good addition to chapter 21.

- Postulates 1 and 2 are consistently swapped when referenced as justification during proofs. I suspect that they were labeled differently at some point during writing and the references were not updated.

- This is maybe just a nitpick, but on page 96 three historical figures are mentioned for their roles in the development of non-Euclidean geometry. Inexplicably missing, however, is János Bolyai, who I feel really should be there.

- Step 3 of the proof of theorem 5-2 cites theorem 6-2, despite this theorem not having been proved yet and having nothing to do with linear pairs. Probably theorem 5-1 was meant.

- In two places (once in the proof of theorem 6-5 on p. 73, and once on p. 184) a corollary 6-3.1 is referenced, which does not exist. The result being referenced is that the perpendicular bisector of the base of an isosceles triangle passes through the apex of the triangle. This result appears on p. 70, although it is not labelled as a corollary.

- The solution to chapter 9 problem 1d claims that the sum of the two angles is less than two right angles, but since the lines meet on the opposite side the angles must in fact be greater than two right angles.

- The solution to chapter 11 problem 6 states that angle RQA equals angle QRA, which is incorrect. It should say that angle RQA equals angle QRB.

- In step 7 of the proof of theorem 13-1 the triangle symbol is missing.

- The solution to chapter 13 problem 4b is missing a triangle symbol.

- The solution to chapter 14 problem 3 angle ADE should obviously be angle BDE.

- On p. 165 the ratio AP/AP' should be AP/AP''.

- The solution given for chapter 15 problem 1b is actually the solution to chapter 15 problem 1c.

- This one is a bit subtle, but in Theorem 17-4 on p. 191, for the justification of step 1 I feel that it makes more sense to cite the construction on p. 185 rather than the construction on p. 87, although they technically amount to the same thing so I can't really call this one an error.

- On p. 193 the part that says "by theorem 17-3" should say "by theorem 17-4."

- In the solution to chapter 18 problem 1a, the sides of the rectangle, and therefore the answer, are inexplicably off by a factor of 10 (should be 25 instead of 2.5).

- The solutions given to chapter 18 problems 3a-3c are actually the solutions to chapter 18 problems 4a-4c.

- The solution to chapter 20 problem 2b should be t = 1025 / cos(36) which is approximately 1266.97.

- Chapter 20 problem 5 states that AD and BC are altitudes of the given triangle, but really BD and AE are the altitudes in the diagram.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Cartoon Guide to Geometry is a well drawn, accessible, humorous guide to geometry by Larry Gonick. Released 16th Jan 2024 by HarperCollins on their Wm. Morrow imprint, it's 272 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats.

This book really does introduce concepts in geometry in a fun and engaging way. There's a lot of history thrown in and the author explains (where known) where the concepts came from and how they were used historically and how they're relevant for modern life. The author is brilliant at breaking complex ideas down into bite-sized pieces and making it fun for people who decided when they were 12 years old that "math wasn't their favorite subject".

The format and cartoon style is similar to most of the other volumes in the "Cartoon Guides" and will be familiar to readers who have experienced some of his other books. He really has a phenomenal talent with explaining things in a way that makes them clear.

There are fun (very clever) exercises throughout the chapters which help readers retain and build on the basic concepts. Detailed explanations and answers are contained in the book and easy to find.

Five stars. This is a -must- buy for public and school library, for readers who want to brush up on geometry, and for general non-fiction fans. This is a really really fun read and an important way to pick up skills that might have been skipped or forgotten since 7th grade. The entire series is worth picking up for the home reference library.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not sure who the target audience is. It’s crowded with information and quickly gets very complicated. While the cartoon format had me thinking it would be a good homeschool book, the whole book has a strange sexist old white guy vibe. After just a few pages of repeatedly seeing a buxom blond character looking strangely sexy and a shaggy haired hippy guy saying stupid stuff, I had to go look if the author was an old white guy and yes, in every bio he points out that he was born in 1946. It’s a nice premise but this is the first geometry book I’ve ever read that made me feel like the author would sneak a look up my skirt if he could. Also, I just didn’t think explained geometry well.

I read a temporary digital copy of this book for review.

[Graham Bates · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting twist on the typical geometry textbook in that it includes most ideas from the study but presents them in cartoons with puns (a hippopotamus often accompanies a discussion of the hypotenuse) and other jokes. Black-and-white, hand-drawn cartoons from a post-WW2 style (reminiscent of Hagar the Horrible, Beetle Bailey, or Blondie syndicated cartoons) may not interest a computer-animated-anime-obsessed younger generation, but the concepts are not bogged down with long-winded explanations. One drawback is that he doesn't include two-column proofs which is a standard style of proof used in high school geometry classes. Check it out from your local library first to see if it fits your aesthetic style before spending the $20 on a copy of your own.

[Tessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are dreading geometry class, or looking for a refresher, this graphic novel book is for you! Full of math topics, theorems, postulates, and jokes, you will laugh your way through learning about geometry and how to use geometry in every day activities.

I'm not sure I would have read this 250+ page graphic novel just for fun, but it's certainly an engaging way to learn math!

Big thanks to William Morrow, HarperCollinsPublishers, and NetGalley for the egalley copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

[J Kromrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this very informative eARC.

Embarrassingly enough, I went to a school on the Midwest and I never took Geometry. Although I work in a professional capacity as a writer, I just love these "kid's books" as they work equally well to teach adults who missed our on some early instruction.
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Many thanks to the author for helping me address long-standing instruction that was missing in my life, an elemental comprehension of Geometry, in a fun, informative way - fun graphics and content, I highly recommend this book.

[Jenna Stensland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! My math loving kiddo is a bit young for this just yet but when we work up to this level he is going to love this! We are both going to learn so much from this book. I learned so much just from reading through it now and I haven't even done the problems yet. Where was this when I learned Geometry the first time?

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cartoon Guide to Geometry is a high school-level textbook for geometry, with cartoons on each page to help make the material more understandable. I like that the history of geometry was included as well as the postulates and theorems. Each chapter has practice problems for students to complete. As a former geometry teacher, I could see using this as a textbook in the classroom.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

[Mitzi Mack · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great way to assist students in creating visual understandings of geometry concepts. Simple and to the point.

[Matt Mayevsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first math book that really got me hooked. And it's the best book for learning algebra.

[Accio_sunshine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the comics! Hilarious stuff

[Julie Ditton · Rating 4 out of 5]

MAKES MATH FUN!
Do you or your kids have Geometry class? This cartoon guide to Geometry provides an irreverent math course that teaches the concepts in an amusing manner. When subject matter is presented in an entertaining manner, people learn. This book should be a required text for math classes! I read a temporary review e-book, but I can honestly recommend this book to any student. This book makes the grade!