Mathematics Galore!: The First Five Years of the St. Mark's Institute of Mathematics

Classroom Resource Materials

by James Stuart Tanton

The author of this book believes that there is too much rote learning and not enough creative exploration in mathematical education. To remedy this he has produced a book that promotes intellectual play and adaptability of thought by engaging the reader in mathematical activities. Twenty-six chapters examine a wide variety of mathematical teasers and problems and the mathematics behind them is explained and proved via natural and accessible means. This is an excellent recreational maths book that also serves as a source of inspiration for teachers of mathematics. Pick and read essays in no particular order and enjoy the mathematical stories that unfold. Be inspired for your courses, your math clubs and your math circles, and enjoy for yourself the bounty of additional research questions and intriguing puzzles that lie within.

Genres: Mathematics

285 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2012

Reviews

[David Molnar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book a lot. I see a lot of potential here for students (college, or high school, I guess) to find some interesting material for presentations. The chapters are not too long, easily digestible, and the topics are all entertaining. There is a common theme of interconnections, and different ways of looking at the same problem. The discussions have a "let's play with this and see what happens" attitude that I would hope would rub off.

I learned a few things too. For example, it is not a secret that it is impossible to draw an equilateral triangle whose vertices are all lattice points. But what I had never considered is that this is also true of equilateral n-gons for any odd n. Just by posing the question, Tanton taught me something. Nice.

[Mills College Library]

510 T169 2012