Math-A-Day: A Book of Days for Your Mathematical Year

by Theoni Pappas

This entertaining book of mathematical days exercises the brain with confounding puzzles, intriguing math problems, and, of course, detailed solutions to all the conundrums. Readers will enjoy 366 days' worth of stimulating math.

Genres: Mathematics, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 18, 1999

About the author

Theoni Pappas is committed to giving mathematics greater exposure and making it more approachable. Pappas encourages mathematics teachers to share and develop new teaching ideas, methods, and approaches. Her gift to the Mathematics Education Trust (MET) helps teachers in grades 9—12 develop mathematics enrichment materials and lessons complementing a teaching unit implemented in the classroom.

Currently, Pappas is a mathematics educator and consultant. She received her B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and her M.A. from Stanford University. She became a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in 1967, when she began teaching high school mathematics. Over the years, she has taught basic math, prealgebra, algebra, trigonometry, geometry, precalculus, and calculus.

Through her studies and research, Pappas has developed products that address mathematical ideas, and she has written numerous books, both for the general public and for educational audiences. Her books include More Joy of Mathematics; The Joy of Mathematics; Mathematics Appreciation; Math Talk; Greek Cooking for Everyone; Fractals, Googols, and Other Mathematical Tales; Mathematical Footprints; The Magic of Mathematics; Math-A-Day; The Music of Reason; Mathematical Scandals; The Adventures of Penrose–the Mathematical Cat; and Math for Kids & Other People Too!
from http://www.nctm.org/resources/content...

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

I haven't officially finished this yet, but my review is unlikely to change.

The two stars are for the quotes and historical notes, maybe even three. But based on too many (read, more than 1%) poorly written, incorrectly answered math problems (of which I read reviews warning of such), this barely eeks out two stars.

Let me reiterate that I saw the negative reviews and still read this book. Don't make my mistake.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed seeing all the math related quotes in this book. As a math teacher I often put a quote on the board. The students loved looking everyday to see what the new quote would be. My advanced students loved it. I personally enjoyed the math facts in the book as well. The facts were not always great to use in class, but sometimes I would look up a topic and see what was listed. It was nice to see the different ways to look things up within the book. I thought some of the math problems were a bit challenging even for me, but I don't have a lot of time anymore since becoming a teacher, so perhaps I would have been more inclined to focus on the problems if I had more time.