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Mathematicians Are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians, Volume 1
Volume One focuses on moments of mathematical discovery experienced by Thales, Pythagoras, Hypatia, Galileo, Pascal, and others. Volume Two dramatizes the lives of Omar Khayyam, Albert Einstein, Ada Lovelace, and others.
143 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
July 23, 2013
Ah but we're missing the subtitle! The full title is: Mathematicians Are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians.
My parents are in that group of retired folk that go into public schools and read stories to children - of course, it helps that mom was a teacher for something like 50 years, so this is old hat for her. Anyway this means that in the usual book closet with the paperbacks (which are not aesthetically pleasing enough to be seen on a bookshelf in the house - and there are multiple bookshelves out there already) there is now an area full of children's books, along with old books from my childhood. And when I saw this title - after having a good laugh - I thought I really had to read it.
Short Version: A series of short biographies written as historical fiction with conversations designed to interest young readers. The stories generally describe the young mathematicians' relationship with parents, teachers, and their feelings about schoolwork - all things young students can completely relate to - then continues on with the mathematician's life and work. Some of the math may be over the heads of the very young, but the presentation is perfect for breaking kids in to the idea of math as an interesting puzzle to be solved and a field that is creative, rather than something that's intimidating. For older children this is a great way to teach primary and secondary sources by sending them to find out what original materials by these mathematicians they can discover, and compare this with the more fictionalized portions of the stories.
Book contains a bibliography ("resource list") and a glossary of mathematical terms. (I'm now curious about Math Equals: Biographies of Women Mathematicians and related Activities and Women in Mathematics.)
Book cover art (For those of you wondering "what's going on there?!"): That's Amalie Emmy Noether discussing mathematics with Max Noether, her father, when she was supposed to be dusting the dining room, as her mother had asked. (Note the unused dustrag on the desk next to Emmy.) That's her mother at the door, looking suitably annoyed. According to the story in her chapter, some of her father's colleagues were due for dinner. Her mother wasn't pleased, and felt her daughter shouldn't be studying the subject as "There's no place for a girl in mathematics." (p. 116) In the end her parents give in and allow her studies - which seemed inevitable since her father taught mathematics at the University of Erlangen in Germany.
[Aside: I loved books containing biographies like this when I was little - particularly anything about George Washington Carver and botany. This might have had something to do with my childhood-fanatical-love of peanut butter. I vaguely remember learning about Carver through a book about Great Men in Science or something like that.]
Chapter titles (with wikipedia links for the curious):
Pyramids, Olives, and Donkeys - Thales
The Teacher Who Paid His Student - Pythagoras
The Man Who Concentrated Too Hard - Archimedes
A Woman of Courage - Hypatia
Magician or Mathematician? - John Napier
Seeing Isn't Believing - Galileo Galilei
Count on Pascal - Blaise Pascal
The Short Giant - Isaac Newton
The Blind Man Who Could See - Leonhard Euler
The Professor Who Did Not Know - Joseph Louis Lagrange
Mathematics at Midnight - Sophie Germain
The Teacher Who Learned a Lesson - Carl Friedrich Gauss
Don't Let My Life Be Wasted! - Evariste Galois
Life on an Obstacle Course - Amalie Emmy Noether
Numbers Were His Greatest Treasure - Srinivasa Ramanujan
Historical fiction is often used to make the lives of historical figures come to life for children. But at the same time it's often tricky to tell where the factual information comes from and how accurate it is when a book writes specifics of what people thought and felt. (It's rare to find historical fiction with citations in the text for instance. And sadly, bibliographies aren't always provided in such texts.) Example in chapter on Evariste Galois, p. 108, Galois returns home after being challenged to a duel, ponders the waste of "so much of his life":
[Aside: Evariste Galois' his last words to his brother were:
Ne pleure pas, Alfred ! J'ai besoin de tout mon courage pour mourir à vingt ans ! (Don't cry, Alfred! I need all my courage to die at twenty.)
- How can I resist hunting for a biography after knowing that?! Unfortunately running down a copy of few biographies that aren't solely about the mathematics may be difficult - must google a bit more...]
More quotes, to give you an idea of the content:
p 12, after Pythagorus etablished his school:
p 30, Hypatia banters with her father:
Meanwhile I'm glad she's in the book. I'm still digging around for a thorough biography of Hypatia, as the ones I find online are rather pricey. (I know - it's library time.)
p 59-60, Blaise Pascal's sister, Gilberte, is going through Blaise's desk after his death, trying to figure out what to do with his possessions.
p. 93, Sophie Germain's parents have forbidden her from studying math because of "the popular notion that "brainwork" was not healthy - maybe even dangerous - for girls." So Sophie sneaks in her mathematics studies at night.
My parents are in that group of retired folk that go into public schools and read stories to children - of course, it helps that mom was a teacher for something like 50 years, so this is old hat for her. Anyway this means that in the usual book closet with the paperbacks (which are not aesthetically pleasing enough to be seen on a bookshelf in the house - and there are multiple bookshelves out there already) there is now an area full of children's books, along with old books from my childhood. And when I saw this title - after having a good laugh - I thought I really had to read it.
Short Version: A series of short biographies written as historical fiction with conversations designed to interest young readers. The stories generally describe the young mathematicians' relationship with parents, teachers, and their feelings about schoolwork - all things young students can completely relate to - then continues on with the mathematician's life and work. Some of the math may be over the heads of the very young, but the presentation is perfect for breaking kids in to the idea of math as an interesting puzzle to be solved and a field that is creative, rather than something that's intimidating. For older children this is a great way to teach primary and secondary sources by sending them to find out what original materials by these mathematicians they can discover, and compare this with the more fictionalized portions of the stories.
Book contains a bibliography ("resource list") and a glossary of mathematical terms. (I'm now curious about Math Equals: Biographies of Women Mathematicians and related Activities and Women in Mathematics.)
Book cover art (For those of you wondering "what's going on there?!"): That's Amalie Emmy Noether discussing mathematics with Max Noether, her father, when she was supposed to be dusting the dining room, as her mother had asked. (Note the unused dustrag on the desk next to Emmy.) That's her mother at the door, looking suitably annoyed. According to the story in her chapter, some of her father's colleagues were due for dinner. Her mother wasn't pleased, and felt her daughter shouldn't be studying the subject as "There's no place for a girl in mathematics." (p. 116) In the end her parents give in and allow her studies - which seemed inevitable since her father taught mathematics at the University of Erlangen in Germany.
[Aside: I loved books containing biographies like this when I was little - particularly anything about George Washington Carver and botany. This might have had something to do with my childhood-fanatical-love of peanut butter. I vaguely remember learning about Carver through a book about Great Men in Science or something like that.]
Chapter titles (with wikipedia links for the curious):
Pyramids, Olives, and Donkeys - Thales
The Teacher Who Paid His Student - Pythagoras
The Man Who Concentrated Too Hard - Archimedes
A Woman of Courage - Hypatia
Magician or Mathematician? - John Napier
Seeing Isn't Believing - Galileo Galilei
Count on Pascal - Blaise Pascal
The Short Giant - Isaac Newton
The Blind Man Who Could See - Leonhard Euler
The Professor Who Did Not Know - Joseph Louis Lagrange
Mathematics at Midnight - Sophie Germain
The Teacher Who Learned a Lesson - Carl Friedrich Gauss
Don't Let My Life Be Wasted! - Evariste Galois
Life on an Obstacle Course - Amalie Emmy Noether
Numbers Were His Greatest Treasure - Srinivasa Ramanujan
Historical fiction is often used to make the lives of historical figures come to life for children. But at the same time it's often tricky to tell where the factual information comes from and how accurate it is when a book writes specifics of what people thought and felt. (It's rare to find historical fiction with citations in the text for instance. And sadly, bibliographies aren't always provided in such texts.) Example in chapter on Evariste Galois, p. 108, Galois returns home after being challenged to a duel, ponders the waste of "so much of his life":
Galois sank into a worn chair and allowed painful memories to parade through his mind. None of it could be blamed on his parents. They were fine people, he reflected. His mother was a strong woman of character. She came from a family of judges and had taught Galois to hate injustice. Actually, she had taught him almost every subject until he turned twelve and started attending school. His father had contributed, too. He was headmaster of the boarding school in their village. Monsieur Galois' hobby was making up rhymes, mostly for fun. Evariste smiled in spite of himself as he remembered mimicking his father's verses.Note that I'm not saying that this manner of telling the story is bad - in fact it's a great to use with older children to introduce the concept of primary and secondary sources, and to teach how to explore/research the documented history. It also makes me as an adult want to research more about Evariste in hopes that these stories are derived from his letters or journals (I'm unsure it either exist or are easily accessible, but I do want to read more.).
...[Evariste's father had been mayor who opposed royalists] Galois hung his head and shuddered as he remembered that awful day. Overwhelmed by the attacks against him, his father had slipped into Paris and killed himself.
[Aside: Evariste Galois' his last words to his brother were:
Ne pleure pas, Alfred ! J'ai besoin de tout mon courage pour mourir à vingt ans ! (Don't cry, Alfred! I need all my courage to die at twenty.)
- How can I resist hunting for a biography after knowing that?! Unfortunately running down a copy of few biographies that aren't solely about the mathematics may be difficult - must google a bit more...]
More quotes, to give you an idea of the content:
p 12, after Pythagorus etablished his school:
"...Seeing Pythagoras must have been worth waiting for. He had a flair for the dramatic and dressed like a stage performer. While the students waited for Pythagoras's entrance, musicians played popular music. Finally the curtain was drawn back and Pythagoras, stately in his white robe, appeared befre the learners. His feet were strapped with gold sandals, and his head was crowned with a golden wreath. No wonder people suspected him of having gods for ancestors.
Pythagoras worked most of his problems in the sand. His classroom always had a good supply of sand on the floor, and his attendants stood by with a selection of differently-colored sand in containers. When Pythagoras wanted to show one part of a geometric shape, for instance, the attendants would fill that part with blue or green sand so the students could see it more easily."
p 30, Hypatia banters with her father:
"Now don't criticize our lighthouse, Father. I'm honored to live near one of the Seven Wonders of the World."I'm curious as to what source inspired this and the rest of the opening "exercise and conversation with dad" scene. Also whether during her day the lighthouse was given the title of one of the Seven Wonders - the wikipedia page has Herodotus (484 – ca. 425 BCE) and/or Callimachus of Cyrene (ca. 305 – 240 BCE) as making early lists of the wonders but notes that their writings (on this subject) haven't survived. Hypatia's dates are (b. ca. AD 350–370, d. 415), again via wiki - and it's likely Alexandria would have had those texts. What I'm itching to know is whether Hypatia's writing mentions any of them.
"You're right, Hypatia. But I can't help remembering how the city first became famous. I long for those days when instead of commercial goods, sailing ships brought the greatest minds in the world to Alexandria." he explained. "In those times the city built museums and libraries. Now, under the Romans. it builds manufacturing and trading centers."
Meanwhile I'm glad she's in the book. I'm still digging around for a thorough biography of Hypatia, as the ones I find online are rather pricey. (I know - it's library time.)
p 59-60, Blaise Pascal's sister, Gilberte, is going through Blaise's desk after his death, trying to figure out what to do with his possessions.
"It looks like each piece of paper has a separate idea on it - as if Blaise had recorded his thoughts whenever and wherever they came to him," Gilberte said to herself.Which you can read via Gutenberg here, or get the basic idea here on wikipedia.
"Shall I get a waste can, ma'am?" the housekeeper asked. "Perhaps it would be easiest to just dump the whole drawer at once."
..."Wait!" interrupted Gilberte. "In this box the pieces are sewn together with string, as if he wanted to publish them in this order. I'd better take a closer look at this!"
After examining the fragments, Gilberte decided that Blaise's insighted should be preserved, so she organized them into a book called Pensees, "thoughts." This rich storehouse of ideas has been an important influence on theologians and philosophers since Pascal's day.
p. 93, Sophie Germain's parents have forbidden her from studying math because of "the popular notion that "brainwork" was not healthy - maybe even dangerous - for girls." So Sophie sneaks in her mathematics studies at night.
On morning Sophie's parents discovered her asleep at her desk. Her slate was full of calculations, and the ink was frozen in its well.
"Sophie. Sophie, wake up!"
"Ummm...uh...Mother, Father?"
"Sophie, haven't we been clear about what we expect of you? Why must you disobey us?" her father implored.
"Oh, Father, I'm so sorry, but I just can't stop," Sophie cried. "These problems are so fascinating! When I work on them I feel like I'm really alive."
"But Sophie," her mother said softly, "remember, you're a girl. It isn't good for you to fill your mind with numbers."
"Mother, I promise I will stop if I become sick or tired. Can't you see that not being able to study this would make me really ill?"
With that her parents gave up. Sophie was allowed to study to her heart's content. Fortunately, her father had an excellent library. As wealthy citizens, the Germain family knew many educated people in Paris and throughout France.
April 21, 2017
interesting bios of great mathematicians. Some worked together or built off another's work. Several were killed or otherwise had hardship because of their genius. I liked seeing their challenges and contributions. would have enjoyed seeing more examples of their work, if possible. Short chapters made for a good read-aloud and kept my 8 year old interested.
April 10, 2024
The best assigned reading I’ve had to do in ages
June 9, 2016
Every few years my homeschooled kids reread this book, and I each time I enjoy it, too. It's an anecdote-filled, gentle introduction to mathematicians and their work, suitable for young teens but informative for older persons as well.
In our homeschool we encourage reading about math and science as well as actually studying it; this approach, encouraged by Charlotte Mason, has greatly increased my children's love of both subjects as well as their general knowledge.
In our homeschool we encourage reading about math and science as well as actually studying it; this approach, encouraged by Charlotte Mason, has greatly increased my children's love of both subjects as well as their general knowledge.
February 26, 2019
I read this to the older two boys at before bed, and they enjoyed it and were always excited about finding out about the next mathematician.
Read
June 4, 2019read p. 63-71
“The Short Giant” on Issac Newton
“The Short Giant” on Issac Newton
February 5, 2022
We loved this book! Loved learning the personal stories of these Mathematicians.
November 18, 2016
The reaction of my 12 year old to this book is what I wish from every book I bring home for her. She read it on her own (without my prompting). Told me about her favorite parts (without my prompting). AND THEN, "Mom, I see you don't have time to read this book, how about if I read it to you?" And while I cleaned the kitchen I heard all about several mathematicians.
She is still pulling connections from this book to other subjects quite often.
I would recommend this for a variety of ages or multiple ages as a read-aloud.
She is still pulling connections from this book to other subjects quite often.
I would recommend this for a variety of ages or multiple ages as a read-aloud.
July 5, 2012
Great book!!! Fascinating book!!!! A must read if you have children or like biographies. I wish I had read this book as a child, I might have persisted a bit more in math studies. I promise you will like this book even if you hate math or find it boring, this illustrates so well how people can be passionate about math!
June 20, 2010
We are loving this book. The other day, Bubs put a straw into Y's sippy, so he wouldn't have to tip it, then proceeded to say, "Mom, I'm being like Archimedes by being a good problem-solver."
Fabulous homeschool book!
Fabulous homeschool book!
August 14, 2014
12 year old Jillian says,"it's neat biographies about Isaac Newton and Archimedes and others. I'm learning many things I didn't know about these people and the history of math."
October 16, 2015
This would be a great way to give the students a history behind math and help them understand the person behind the formula.
June 21, 2018
Highly recommend for a broad view on great mathematicians! If your child loves math, they’ll appreciate this book greatly. If they do not enjoy math this might give them the chance to wonder over these brilliant minds. My daughters enjoyed it and found much of it astonishing. An interesting view on women in mathematics and how they fought to attain their personal dreams when socially it was unacceptable...one woman even working unpaid to price her worth and eventually had the chance to work (paid) alongside Einstein. She didn’t give up!
December 28, 2018
Great stories! Some I had never heard before, and some that I vaguely remembered being taught. I wish there were pronunciation helps with all the names in the book because I'm awful at pronouncing names I have never heard before, but I did appreciate the helps on the mathematician's themselves. If I ever find an audiobook version at the library, we'll definitely be picking it up to listen to again!
November 14, 2017
This is not a must for all children, but if you have a mathematically talented child this book will open their eyes to many of the men and women throughout history who formed math theory as we know it today. Each chapter is a short biographical sketch.
November 29, 2021
I have owned this book forever, but never read it until this year. I was glad I did. I like hearing the back story for many mathematicians. I would like a book like this about other people, scientist, presidents, inventors, authors, etc.
April 3, 2018
A great book. I read aloud to my kids ages 4 to 12. We all loved learning about the lives of mathematicians and the different discoveries in math.
June 10, 2018
This is one of the most interesting books ive ever read.
December 14, 2018
Great short biographies of a number of famous mathematicians. I've enjoyed this immensely, and so has my son. I'll be looking to get the second volume soon.
February 7, 2023
My dd loved this book! And loved the story of the girl doing math instead of dusting.
October 11, 2024
I love that it changed the way I look at math.
April 27, 2020
Reading during morning time...krb 4/1/20
Enjoyed reading this more than the kids, however, once we started reading about a particular mathematician they would get interested. The book tells such intriguing stories of each one to remember them by...krb 4/26/20
Enjoyed reading this more than the kids, however, once we started reading about a particular mathematician they would get interested. The book tells such intriguing stories of each one to remember them by...krb 4/26/20
Currently reading
September 4, 2012An interesting way to introduce a math concept is by telling the story of the person who did the discovering. This book includes the following chapters are mathematicians:
Thales - Pyramids, Olives, and Donkeys
Pythagoras - The Teacher Who Paid His Student
Archimedes - The Man Who Concentrated Too Hard (one of my favorites!)
Hypatia - A Woman of Courage
John Napier - Magician or Mathematician?
Galileo - Seeing Isn't Believing
Pascal - Count on Pascal
Isaac Newton - The Short Giant
Leonhard Euler - The Blind Man Who Could See
Joseph Louis Lagrange - The Professor Who Did Not Know
Sophie Germain - Mathematics at Midnight
Carl Friedrich Gauss - The Teacher Who Learned a Lesson (another favorite!)
Evariste Galois - Don't Let My Life Be Wasted!
Emmy Noether - Life on an Obstacle Course
Srinivasa Ramanujan - Numbers Were His Greatest Treasure
These stories are told in an easy to read, conversational style that pulls the reader/listener in. Giving students a chance to try to figure things out themselves before being told how it was done provides fun brain challenges for advanced students.
Thales - Pyramids, Olives, and Donkeys
Pythagoras - The Teacher Who Paid His Student
Archimedes - The Man Who Concentrated Too Hard (one of my favorites!)
Hypatia - A Woman of Courage
John Napier - Magician or Mathematician?
Galileo - Seeing Isn't Believing
Pascal - Count on Pascal
Isaac Newton - The Short Giant
Leonhard Euler - The Blind Man Who Could See
Joseph Louis Lagrange - The Professor Who Did Not Know
Sophie Germain - Mathematics at Midnight
Carl Friedrich Gauss - The Teacher Who Learned a Lesson (another favorite!)
Evariste Galois - Don't Let My Life Be Wasted!
Emmy Noether - Life on an Obstacle Course
Srinivasa Ramanujan - Numbers Were His Greatest Treasure
These stories are told in an easy to read, conversational style that pulls the reader/listener in. Giving students a chance to try to figure things out themselves before being told how it was done provides fun brain challenges for advanced students.
March 7, 2016
3.5 stars. My son had this as an assignment for Math class, and I had to check it out when he was laughing at a math book! It features short stories about great mathematicians, their lives, and what they discovered in a short chapter format that is very accessible for middle grade readers. I learned a lot too!
Here are some of the mathematicians:
Thales - Pyramids, Olives, and Donkeys
Pythagoras - The Teacher Who Paid His Student
Archimedes - The Man Who Concentrated Too Hard (one of my favorites!)
Hypatia - A Woman of Courage
John Napier - Magician or Mathematician?
Galileo - Seeing Isn't Believing
Pascal - Count on Pascal
Isaac Newton - The Short Giant
Here are some of the mathematicians:
Thales - Pyramids, Olives, and Donkeys
Pythagoras - The Teacher Who Paid His Student
Archimedes - The Man Who Concentrated Too Hard (one of my favorites!)
Hypatia - A Woman of Courage
John Napier - Magician or Mathematician?
Galileo - Seeing Isn't Believing
Pascal - Count on Pascal
Isaac Newton - The Short Giant
January 11, 2012
Reading to kids, January+ 2012.
Some technical mathematical terms still above my younger children, but they are interested.
Some of the fictionalized "story" and most of the dialogue, pretty lame. But interesting lives for sure.
There could be a lot of fun "aside" activities, such as using Thales' formula or finding some Napier's rods to print, if I weren't too lazy ;)
The idea behind reading this book to my kids is to get them interested in the background & history of mathematics before we take the plunge into actually "doing" math (or reading things that are harder)!
Some technical mathematical terms still above my younger children, but they are interested.
Some of the fictionalized "story" and most of the dialogue, pretty lame. But interesting lives for sure.
There could be a lot of fun "aside" activities, such as using Thales' formula or finding some Napier's rods to print, if I weren't too lazy ;)
The idea behind reading this book to my kids is to get them interested in the background & history of mathematics before we take the plunge into actually "doing" math (or reading things that are harder)!
March 27, 2009
I would never have thought I would enjoy a book of stories about the lives of mathematicians because, well, math has never really been my thing. But this book was lots of fun to read. It has lots of little stories about mathematicians and things that they discovered and did. I think that if I had discovered it when I was taking boring math classes in junior high that it would have made it more interesting. After reading this, I still do have to say that math is not my thing, but this book did make me appreciate the value of it a bit more.
January 7, 2012
Note: there are two volumes of this book. The following review is for volume one.
I read this in one day. Couldn't put it down. Toward the end of the book, I stopped to go downstairs to talk to my husband (an electrical engineer) about different mathematicians and their contributions, specifically what a cycloid was and how the definition of one initially confused me. We talked about circles (not in circles), and it was exhilarating for me. What a fun and engaging look at mathematics. Finally.
I read this in one day. Couldn't put it down. Toward the end of the book, I stopped to go downstairs to talk to my husband (an electrical engineer) about different mathematicians and their contributions, specifically what a cycloid was and how the definition of one initially confused me. We talked about circles (not in circles), and it was exhilarating for me. What a fun and engaging look at mathematics. Finally.
August 7, 2008
Both this and the second book are wonderful! I loved reading these stories to my children. Each book contains stories about great scientists and mathematicians from history written on a child's level. Where science and especially math can seem so boring to some kids, this book brought those subjects to life. More than that, they have given us a fun and fascinating way to study history and geography as well as we read about the lives of the greats - Archimedes, Pascal, Newton, and others.
April 8, 2014
An extremely interesting look at several great mathematicians. Some funny, some sad, and all interesting. I only wish that there were more detail about their actual discoveries and contributions, all their mathematical contributions are mentioned mostly in abstract rather than any explaining detail. Personally I found some of the older Greek personalities the most interesting.
Definitely worth reading.
Definitely worth reading.
May 5, 2009
I am not much of a science and math person, so the book wasn't terribly interesting to me, but it is a great teaching tool for my children. I intend to use it over time to inspire them about math & science. Also, it has many stories about living your full potential even when everyone seems to be against what you are doing.
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